S9^ 

The  Library 
University  of  California,  Los  Angeles 


WITH  THE  COMPLIMENTS    OF   THE   AUTHOR 
AND  THE  LILIENTHAL  FAMILY 


Mrs.  A.  Haas 
2001  Van  Ness  Ave. 


DR.  MAX  LILIENTHAL 

(Aet.  6o) 


MAX  LILIENTHAL 

AMERICAN  RABBI 

LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 


BY 


DAVID  PHILIPSON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

AUTHOR   OF    THE    REFORM    MOVEMENT    IN    JUDAISM,    ETC.,    ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  BLOCK  PUBLISHING  CO. 
191S 


Copyright,  191S 

DAVID    PHILIPSON 

CINCINNATI 


PRESS    OF   C.   J.    KREHBIEL   &   CO. 
CINCINNATI 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


LIFE 

Chapter  I 
Bavarian  Birthplace — ^Childhood  and  Youth 1 

Chapter  II. 
The  Russian  Career 12 

Chapter  III. 
First  Years  in  America 46 

Chapter  IV. 
The  Rabbi  of  the  Bene  Israel  Congregation 60 

Chapter  V. 
In    Public   Life 76 

Chapter  VI. 
The  American  Citizen — Church  and  State — The  Bible  in 
the    Schools 101 

Chapter  VII. 
The  Closing  Years 126 

WRITINGS 

Family    Letters 133 

My  Travels  in  Russia 159 

Letters  on  Reform 367 

The  Flag  and  the  Union 398 

The  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln 415 

Abraham    Lincoln — An    Appreciation 430 

Modern    Judaism 444 

The  Platform  of  Judaism 453 

Can  a  Jew  Go  to  Heaven  ? 460 

The  Prejudice  Against  the  Jews 467 

The    Contest    for    Religious    Liberty    in    Cincinnati ;    or 
the  Bible  Question 474 


8G8931 


PREFACE 


Seventy  years  ago  the  famous  Jewish  leader  whose 
life  is  presented  in  these  pages  stepped  foot  upon 
the  shore  of  the  United  States  after  an  adventurous 
career  in  the  domain  of  the  Czar.  During  the  thirty- 
seven  years  that  he  lived  in  this  country  he  became 
so  indoctrinated  with  the  American  principle  that, 
though  he  was  of  German  birth,  the  proper  desig- 
nation to  apply  to  him  is  that  used  on  the  title  page 
of  this  volume,  "American  Rabbi." 

I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  surviving 
children  of  Dr.  Lilienthal  for  placing  at  my  disposal 
the  letters  written  by  him  from  Russia  to  members 
of  his  family,  as  well  as  for  many  other  courtesies. 
These  letters,  now  published  for  the  first  time,  con- 
stitute a  real  contribution  to  Jewish  epistolary  liter- 
ature. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  Mr.  A.  S.  Oko,  the  libra- 
rian of  the  Hebrew  Union  College,  for  his  constant 
readiness  to  make  accessible  to  me  books  and  period- 
icals in  the  library  bearing  on  the  subject  in  hand. 

I  have  long  felt  that  Dr.  Lilienthal's  valuable 
sketches  entitled  "My  Travels  in  Russia"  should  be 
preserved  in  some  permanent  form.  I  have  therefore 
included  them  in  this  volume.  The  sketches  have 
been  edited  here  and  there  and  supplied  with  foot- 
notes, which  are  for  the  most  part  explanations  of 
Hebrew  words  and  expressions. 

The  addresses  and  letters  which  form  the  closing 


VI  PREFACE. 

section  of  the  book  have  been  selected  with  a  view 
of  ilhistrating  phases  of  Dr.  LiHenthal's  American 
career. 

This  volume  has  been  prepared  as  a  tribute  of 
affection  and  admiration  to  the  memory  of  my  never- 
to-be-forgotten  teacher  and  predecessor  in  office. 
Jew  in  religion,  American  in  nationality,  Max  Lilien- 
thal  championed  throughout  his  life  the  causes  of 
Jewish  idealism  and  American  liberty.  Therefore  do 
we  recall  with  reverent  gratitude  the  fine  service  of 
this  great  American  rabbi  on  the  occasion  of  the 
centenary  of  his  birth. 

David  Philipson. 


MAX    LILIENTHAL 


LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 


LIFE 


CHAPTER  I. 

BAVARIAN    birthplace; — CHILDHOOD    AND    YOUTH. 

The  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  brought 
little  relief  from  medieval  conditions  to  the  Jews  of 
Bavaria.  As  in  other  parts  of  Germany,  and  in  truth, 
throughout  Europe,  the  Jews  in  the  Bavarian  kingdom 
had,  during  the  centuries  that  they  had  lived  in  the 
country,  been  subjected  to  indignities  and  disabilities 
of  all  kinds.  Thus,  an  edict  published  in  1553  classed 
the  Jews  among  "dangerous  and  suspicious  persons" 
who  must  be  prevented  from  dwelling  in  the  country 
or  carrying  on  any  trade  or  engaging  in  any  industry. 
Jews  of  other  lands  who  were  obliged  to  pass  through 
Bavaria  were  compelled  to  secure  a  passport,  for  which 
they  had  to  pay  toll  and  convoy  fees.  In  1715  the 
Elector  Max  Emanuel  ordered  the  deportation  of  the 
few  Jews  who  still  remained  in  the  country.  In  1733 
all  current  passports  were  canceled ;  a  new  poll  tax  was 
levied  as  well  as  a  new  convoy  tax.  Jews  were  ex- 
cluded from  all  trades,  from  military  service,  and  from 
the  merchant  guilds ;  they  were  denied  entrance  to  the 
public  baths  and  were  forbidden  to  settle  in  the  coun- 
Iry.' 

The  new  spirit  which  arose  in  Europe  towards  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  exerted  some  influence 
in  favor  of  the  Jews  even  in  so  reactionary  a  country 

'  S.  Taussig,  Geschichte  der  Juden  in  Bayern,  61  ff. 
(Miinchen,   1894). 

1 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

as  Bavaria.  Further,  the  financial  conditions  were  so 
unfavorable  at  this  time  that  this  caused  a  change  in 
the  attitude  of  the  authorities  towards  the  Jews.  Bills 
were  drafted  by  the  provisional  government  between 
1785-91  which  were  more  lenient  than  the  drastic  legis- 
lation in  force  hitherto.  For  example,  such  Jews  as 
could  furnish  indubitable  evidence  that  they  possessed 
sufficient  means  to  engage  in  industry  were  permitted 
to  settle  in  the  country.  The  degrading  poll  tax  was 
repealed  and  only  a  tax  on  patents  of  commerce  was 
imposed.  A  few  Jews  were  ennobled  and  several  re- 
ceived ofificial  recognition  from  the  state. 

Owing  to  these  more  favorable  conditions  the  Jewish 
community  of  Munich,  the  capital  city  of  the  country, 
increased  in  numbers.  Still  there  were  only  thirty-one 
families  in  the  city  in  1800.  The  community  had 
neither  a  synagog  nor  a  cemetery,  neither  being  per- 
mitted them.  They  buried  their  dead  in  the  cemetery 
at  Kriegshaber,  near  Augsburg.  However,  a  chebra 
kadischa,  or  association  for  carrying  out  the  ritual 
commands  in  case  of  death,  was  organized  in  Munich 
in  1806.  The  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  this  oldest 
Jewish  organization  in  the  Bavarian  capital  was  cele- 
brated appropriately  nine  years  ago. 

In  1813  an  edict  was  promulgated  regulating  the 
affairs  of  the  Jews.  This  edict  pronounced  them  citi- 
zens of  Bavaria  as  far  as  their  duties  were  concerned, 
but  as  to  rights,  they  were  only  partial  citizens.  The 
edict  contained  some  enactments  in  accord  with  the 
new  spirit  of  emancipation  which  had  spread  abroad, 
notably  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of  the  French,  but 
it  retained  also  survivals  of  the  past  ages  of  restriction 
and  oppression.  Most  humiliating  among  these  was 
the  so-called  Matrikelgesetz.     According  to  this  in- 

2 


BAVARIAN  BIRTHPLACE — CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

human  enactment,  the  number  of  Jews  who  could  ^ 
found  a  family  was  limited  to  such  as  possessed  this 
right.  Accordingly,  only  a  restricted  number  of  Jewish 
famihes  was  permitted  in  the  community.  No  young 
man  could  marry  legally  who  had  not  the  Matrikel. 
This  usually  descended  from  father  to  oldest  son. 
Younger  sons  were  thus  debarred  from  marrying 
legally.  However,  it  happened  frequently  in  Bavarian 
and  Bohemian  communities,  where  the  same  Pharaonic 
law  was  in  force,  that  couples  who  had  not  this  right 
were  married  according  to  the  rites  of  the  synagog. 
In  the  eyes  of  theltate,  such  marriages  were  illegal 
and  the  children  illegitimate.  The  edict  of  1813  also 
restricted  freedom  of  residence  and  allowed  no  in- 
crease of  Jewish  famihes  anywhere.  In  fact,  in  places 
where  this  number  appeared  too  large,  it  could  be 
diminished.  There  were  quite  a  number  of  towns  in 
Bavaria  in  which  there  were  no  Jews,  they  having 
been  expelled  at  one  time  or  other,  and  never  per- 
mitted to  return.  Again,  there  were  a  few  places  ^ 
which  had  come  to  be  known  as  "cities  oijrefuge;" 
these,  like  Fiirth  and  Ichenhausen,  had  large  Jewish 
congregations.  According  to  the  edict  of  1813,  per- 
mission to  settle  in  towns  where  there  were  no  Jews 
was  to  be  granted  only  upon  the  most  rigorous  con- 
ditions and  by  the  highest  authority.  The  edict  then 
was  far  different  from  the  emancipation  edict  pro- 
mulgated in  another  German  kingdom  the  year  pre- 
viously— the  famous  Prussian  emancipation  edict  of 
1812.  It  was  much  more  medieval  in  spirit,  and  the 
Jews  were  continued  to  be  hedged  round  with  a  fence 
of  exclusion. 

Among  the  few  who  possessed  the  right  of  resi- 
dence  in    Munich   at   this   time   was    Seligman   J.ob 


MAX  IvIUENTlIAL. 

Lilienthal,  a  wholesale  merchant  in  affluent  circum- 
stances. To  him  and  his  wife,  Dina,  who  was  the 
daughter  of  another  Munich  family,  the  Lichten- 
steins,  there  was  born  on  October  16,  1815,-  a  son 
who  was  destined  to  have  a  brilliant  career.  The  boy 
was  named  Menachem,  or  in  the  Germanized  form  of 
the  name,  Max.  He  lost  his  mother  when  he  was  but 
nine  years  of  age.  There  is  a  tradition  in  the  family 
that  he  promised  his  mother  on  her  deathbed  that  he 
would  study  to  become  a  rabbi. 

In  the  home  wherein  he  grew  up  there  were  four 
other  children,  the  brothers  Samuel  and  Silas,  and 
the  sisters  Sophie  (who  married  Dr.  John  Lehmeier) 
and  Henrietta  (who  married  Dr.  Philip  Nettre,  the 
brother  of  Pepi,  who  became  the  wife  of  Max  Lilien- 
thal). Sophie  took  the  mother's  place  as  far  as  this 
was  possible  in  the  household. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  life  of  these  children 

*  The  date  usually  given  in  published  biographies  of  Lilien- 
thal as  the  day  of  his  birth  is  November  6,  1815.  This  is 
incorrect.  A  letter  to  his  ifiancee,  Miss  Pepi  Nettre,  in  Munich, 
dated  St.  Petersburg,  October  16,  1841,  opens  with  the  words, 
"I  wonder  what  you  are  doing  on  this,  my  birthday  !"  Fur- 
ther, the  year  1815,  usually  accepted  as  the  year  of  his  birth, 
may  be  open  to  question,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  inscrip- 
tion on  his  tombstone  in  the  United  Jewish  Cemetery  at 
Cincinnati  gives  1814  as  the  year  of  birth.  However,  de- 
spite this  evidence  which  would  usually  be  considered  incon- 
testable, we  have  a  statement  by  Dr.  Lilienthal  himself  which 
indicates  beyond  doubt  that  he  was  born  in  1815.  The  open- 
ing sentence  of  his  itinerary,  "My  Travels  in  Russia"  reads, 
"I  was  but  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  I  left  for  Russia." 
This  was  in  the  beginning  of  October,  1839,  shortly  before 
his  twenty-fourth  birthday.  Had  he  been  born  in  the  fall  of 
1814  as  the  tombstone  inscription  has  it  he  would  have  been 
twenty-four  years  old  at  this  time  and  on  the  verge  of  his 
twenty-fifth  birthday. 


BAVARIAN   BIRTHPLACE — CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

in  the  Lilienthal  home,  important  events  were  taking 
place  affecting  the  status  and  welfare  of  the  Jews  in 
Bavaria.  The  first  Bavarian  Diet  assembled  in  181^.  I 
The  larger  Jewish  congregations  of  the  country  sent 
delegates  to  Munich  to  work  for  the  enfranchisement 
of  the  Jews.  The  leader  of  these  delegates  was 
Samson  Wolf  Rosenfeld,  rabbi  in  Uehlfeld  and  Bam- 
berg, and  author  of  a  number  of  pamphlets  on  eman- 
cipation. The  efforts  of  Rosenfeld  and  his  colleagues 
towards  inducing  the  members  of  the  Diet  to  take 
favorable  action  on  the  question  of  Jewish  enfran- 
chisement might  have  proved  successful,  since  the 
Diet  promised  to  comply  with  the  request,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  wave  of  anti-Jewish  agitation  which 
convulsed  the  country  while  the  Diet  was  in  session. 
This  was  the  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Hep !  hep  P 
agitation  which,  beginning  in  Wiirzburg  with  attacks 
on  the  Jews,  spread  through  Franconia  and  passed 
into  Bavaria  and  other  parts  of  Germany.  The  Hep ! 
hep!  cry  resounded  throughout  the  country  and,  in- 
fluenced by  the  state  of  the  popular  mind,  the  Diet 
declared  on  May  13,  1822,  that  the  time  for  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  Jews  had  not  yet  arrived. 

However,  in  1818,  some  time  before  this  brutal 
anti-Jewish  crusade,  the  government  had  permitted 
the  small  Jewish  community  of  Munich  to  acquire  a 
cemetery,  and  in  1824  granted  them  the  permission 
to   build   a   synagog;   this    first   synagog   of    Munich 

'It  is  frequently  asserted  that  this  cry  Hep!  hep!  (the 
three  initial  letters  of  Hierosolyma  est  perdita)  was  a  me- 
dieval anti-Jewish  slogan.  Of  this  there  is  no  proof.  As 
far  as  can  be  learned,  it  was  used  for  the  first  time  at  this 
period  and  was  the  invention  of  the  students  at  Wiirzburg. 
See  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  XI,  357. 


MAX  LIUlSNTHAt. 

Jewry  was  dedicated  on  April  11,  1827.  The  high 
standing  of  the  Lilienthal  family  in  the  community  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  the  father  was  a  member  of 
the  board  of  administration  at  the  time  of  the  dedi- 
cation. The  other  members  of  this  board  were  Israel 
Hirsch  Pappenheimer,  Jacob  von  Hirsch  (the  grand- 
father of  the  famous  philanthropist,  Maurice  de 
Hirsch),  Raphael  Kaula  (in  the  famous  collection  of 
beautiful  Bavarian  women  in  one  of  the  Munich  pal- 
aces there  is  a  picture  of  a  Fraulein  von  Kaula,  who 
was  doubtless  a  member  of  this  family),  Anselm 
Marx  and  M.  H.  Seligstein.  Lilienthal  was  also  a 
member  of  the  governing  board  of  the  chebra  Ka- 
discJia  mentioned  above. 

A  far-reaching  action  in  its  influence  on  the  life 
and  development  of  the  Bavarian  Jews  was  the  pass- 
ing, in"4828^f  the  edict  for  the  organization  of 
Jewish  schools  on  modern  lines.  The  Jewish  com- 
munities were  greatly  agitated.  Great  difficulties 
were  encountered  in  carrying  out  the  decree  in  a 
number  of  communities,  the  members  of  which  clung 
to  the  old  cheder  method.  The  new  was  reprehensible 
merely  because  it  was  new;  the  old  was  good  merely 
because  it  was  old.  According  to  this  edict,  only  a 
teacher  who  passed  successfully  examinations  re- 
quired by  the  government  could  be  appointed  by  the 
congregations  to  instruct  in  the  schools ;  such  ap- 
pointees, if  ratified  by  the  government,  could  not  be 
dismissed  without  the  consent  of  the  government.  In 
a  manner  the  Jewish  schools  thus  became  govern- 
mental schools.  Before  this  time  the  cheder,  or  Jew- 
ish school,  was  a  private  institution.  The  children 
were  taught  only  Hebrew  branches  by  a  teacher  known 
as  the  melammed,  who  was  usually  without  pedagog- 


BAVARIAN   birthplace; — CHII.DHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

ical  training.  All  this  was  to  be  changed.  The  edict 
also  provided  that  after  the  year  1833  the  teachers 
had  to  be  graduates  of  seminaries. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  young  Max  Lilienthal 
began  attending  the  University  of  Munich  with  the 
idea  of  securing  the  education  which  would  equip 
him  to  occupy  the  rabbinical  ofitice  under  the  changed 
conditions  in  Jewish  life.  A  number  of  communities 
in  Germany  were  looking  for  rabbis  who  combined 
the  secular  learning  acquired  at  the  university  with 
the  erudition  secured  from  the  study  of  the  ancient 
Hebrew  lore.  These  were  the  years  of  storm  and 
conflict.  Rabbis  of  the  old  school  condemned  the 
newer  learning  as  detrimental  to  the  religion.  Tra- 
ditionalism and  modernism  were  locking  horns ;  the 
former  made  a  hard,  but  vain  fight ;  it  could  not  stem 
the  current  of  progress  and  reform.  The  young  men 
educated  in  the  universities  had  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent outlook  upon  life  than  had  the  rabbis  whose 
learning  was  confined  to  the  intricacies  of  the  Talmud 
and  the  codes.  Max  Lilienthal  grew  to  manhood  in 
those  seething  years  when  the  Jewish  communities  of 
Germany,  notably  in  the  larger  cities,  were  greatly 
agitated  by  the  new  hopes.  He  and  his  brother 
Samuel,*  to  whom  he  remained  greatly  attached 
throughout  his  life,  both  received  their  education  at 
the  university  of  their  native  city.^     Max  graduated 

*  Samuel  graduated  from  the  university  as  doctor  of  medi- 
cine, and  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  where  he  prac- 
ticed successfully  for  many  years. 

°  Many  years  later  Max  Lilienthal  referred  to  his  life  at 
the  university  in  these  words :  "I  still  remember  today  my 
Christian  fellow  students  at  the  University  of  Munich;  they 
deplored  the  state  of  my  soul,  they  said,  because  of  my  re- 
ligious profession.     Several   of   them,   young  men  to   whom 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

in  1837,  receiving  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy, 
the  subject  of  his  thesis  being  "Ueber  den  Ursprung 
der  jiidisch-alexandrischen  Religionsphilosophie".** 

He  received  his  Hebrew^  education  from  Rabbi 
Moses  Wittelsbacher  and  attended  also  the  famous 
ycsliibali  of  Wolf  Hamburger  in  Fiirth,  the  academy 
for  higher  Jewish  learning,  among  whose  pupils  were 
other  young  men  who  also  became  famous  reform 
rabbis,  such  as  David  Einhorn,  Isaac  Loewi,  of  Fiirth, 
Leopold  Stein,  of  Frankfort,  Joseph  Aub,  of  Berlin, 
as  well  as  that  pillar  of  orthodoxy,  Seligman  Baer 
Bamberger.  He  received  the  rabbinical  degree  from 
Hirsch  ^^ub,  rabbi  of  Munich. 

Lilienthal  passed  so  brilliant  an  examination  in  tak- 
ing his  degree  at  the  university  that  he  was  offered  a 
position  in  the  diplomatic  service.  Although  it  had 
been  his  fixed  purpose  to  follow  the  rabbinical  career, 
still  this  offer  was  so  tempting  that  he  felt  impelled 
to  accept  it,  notably  since,  owing  to  the  loss  of  the 
family  possessions  through  a  disastrous  fire,  he,  as 
the  eldest  of  the  children,  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him- 
self to  assist  in  the  rearing  of  his  brothers  and  sis- 
ters. However,  upon  being  informed  that  if  he  ac- 
cepted this  post,  he  must  become  converted  to  Ca- 
tholicism, he  rejected  the  ofifer  indignantly.  This 
closed  the  incident,  the  minister  of  foreign  afifairs 
assuring  him  that  such  being  his  attitude,  he  could 
not  possibly  pursue  a  diplomatic  career  in  Bavaria. 

I  was  attached  by  the  bonds  of  the  most  sincere  friendship, 
believed  me  irretrievably  lost !  How  ridiculous,  how  blas- 
phemous this  doctrine  sounds!"     Israelite,  III,  44. 

'Published  in  Munich,  1839,  J.  A.  Giesser.  The  dis- 
sertation was  dedicated  to  Hirsch  Aub,  the  rabbi  of  the 
Munich  congregation. 


BAVARIAN   BIRTHPLACE — CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

He  turned  definitely  now  to  what  had  been  his 
heart's  desire  from  the  first,  the  rabbinical  office.  But 
a  change  had  come  upon  the  government's  legislation 
in  the  matter  of  filling  these  offices.  The  movement 
for  religious  reform  was  alarming  the  adherents  of 
traditional  Judaism.  They  succeeded  in  impressing 
the  government  with  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  the 
"innovators",  as  the  reformers  were  called.  But  in 
this  bitter  opposition  to  all  religious  reform  they  were 
playing  with  fire,  for  the  government  was  not  satisfied 
with  legislating  against  this  alone,  but  in  1838  aii  edict 
was  issued  which  reenacted  all  the  harshest  restrictive 
measures  against  the  Jews;  among  others  were  the 
following:  the  Matrikel  was  enforced  rigidly;  Jews 
were  excluded  from  the  bench,  the  bar  and  the  army ; 
it  was  forbidden  to  record  a  house  in  the  name  of  a 
Jew  in  a  place  where  he  did  not  live ;  no  Jew  was 
permitted  to  remain  longer  than  three  days  in  the 
fortress  of  Ingolstadt.  And  in  that  same  year  the 
order  was  issued  forbidding  congregations  from  select- 
ing as  their  rabbis,  such  candidates  as  held  liberal 
views,  or,  as  the  exact  words  of, the  decree  put  it, 
"candidates  favoring  destructive  neolog^;^'.  Whether 
or  no  this  was  the  reason  why  Lilienthal  .did  not  suc- 
ceed in  securing  a  position,  there  is  no  means  of  know- 
ing, but  the  fact  remains  that  he  never  officiated  as 
rabbi  for  a  Bavarian  congregation.  His  work  was  to 
lie  in  other  lands. 

However,  he  was  not  idle  during  this  time.  The 
fine  collection  of  Hebrew  manuscripts  in  the  royal 
library  of  Munich  attracted  his  attention.  He  wrote 
an  account  of  the  collection  under  the  title,  "Biblio- 
graphical Notices  on  the  Hebrew  Manuscripts  in  the 


MAX  UUENTHAI.. 

Royal  Library  at  Munich".^  These  notices  were  pub- 
lished during  the  course  of  over  a  year  running  from 
May  19,  1838,  to  November  16,  1839,  in  the  literary 
supplement  of  the  Allgcmeine  Zeitung  dcs  Juden- 
tliums.  It  was  also  noted  in  the  columns  of  this 
journal  that  he  was  at  work  on  a  history  of  the 
Jews  in  Bavaria^  although  this  was  never  published. 
Through  this  literary  work  the  young  scholar  was 
brought  into  intimate  communication  with  Dr.  Lud- 
wig  Philippson,  the  editor  of  the  journal  in  question, 
the  only  Jewish  newspaper  in  Germany  at  the  time. 
It  was  through  this  connection  that  the  opening  years 
of  LiHenthal's  active  career  were  passed,  not  as  rabbi 
in  a  small  Bavarian  Jewish  congregation,  but  as  the 
companion  of  statesmen  and  diplomats  in  the  great 
Russian  empire.  For  it  was  Ludwig  Philippson,  the 
best-known  German  Jew,  to  whom  Uwarofif,  the  Rus- 
sian Minister  of  Education,  turned  for  advice  as  to 
who  should  be  entrusted  with  the  superintendency  of 
the  new  school  to  be  established  in  Riga,  the  beginning 
of  the  great  task  of  modernizing  the  Jewish  schools 
in  Russia.  And  Ludwig  Philippson  recommended  Max 
Lilienthal  as  the  young  man  who,  in  his  opinion,  was 
best  equipped  for  this  pioneer  work.  He  was  recom- 
mended to  Uwaroff  also  by  the  Russian  ambassador 
to  Munich.  It  was  through  Ludwig  Philippson's  rec- 
ommendations, too,  that  the  positions  of  preacher  of 
the  Leipzig  temple  and  of  the  congregation  at  Szege- 
din,  in  Hungary,  had  been  offered  to  him  before 
this.     While  these  negotiations  were  pending  the  op- 

'  Bihliographischc  Notizen  iiber  die  hebrdischen  Manu- 
skripte  der  Koniglichen  Bibliothck  zu  Miinchen. 

*  AUgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthiims.  Homiletisches  und 
Literarisches  Beiblatt,  1838,  80. 

10 


BAVARIAN   BIRTHPLACE — CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

portunity  of  going  to  Russia  as  teacher  and  preacher 
at  Riga  presented  itself.  This  call  was  accepted  for 
the  reason  as  stated  by  himself  that  "the  sphere  of 
activity  in  such  a  vast  empire  flattered  my  youthful 
vanity,  and  hoping  for  the  best  results  of  my  sincere 
endeavors  to  raise  the  million  of  Jews  to  a  higher 
standard,  I  asked  the  Russian  ambassador  at  Munich 
for  my  passport".^ 

®  Lilienthal,  My  Travels  in  Russia,  Infra,  p.  159. 


11 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

The  unrest  in  German  Jewry  in  the  early  decades 
of  the  nineteenth  century  was  reflected  in  a  slighter 
measure  in  the  great  empire  of  the  czar,  where  dwelt 
the  large  majority  of  the  Jews  of  Europe.  The  great 
mass  of  these  Jews  had,  it  is  true,  been  touched  in  no 
way  by  the  modern  spirit ;  among  them  the  rabbinical 
interpretation  of  the  law  held  full  sway.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  there  had  arisen  in  Russia  the 
movement  known  as  Chassidism,  a  protest  against  the 
rigorous  legalism  of  rabbinical  tradition.  The  sect  of 
the  Chassidim,  noble  and  pure  as  were  the  motives  of 
the  founder,  Israel  Baal  Shem,^  had  degenerated  into 
superstitious  obscurantists,  whom  the  wonder-working 
rabbis  held  in  thrall.  Still  the  effect  of  the  newer  ef- 
forts for  secular  education,  so  marked  among  German 
Jews  since  the  days  of  Moses  Mendelssohn,  found  an 
echo  in  some  Jewish  quarters  in  Russia.  The  men 
who  headed  these  attempts  to  bring  their  coreligion- 
ists into  accord  with  the  modern  spirit  are  known  as 
Maskilim,  and  the  movement  which  they  sponsored  as 
the  Haskala  movement.^  This  movement  was  con- 
cerned largely  with  the  effort  to  found  schools  in 
which  the  children  and  the  youth  should  receive  in- 
struction in  what  we  now  call  secular  branches,  as 

*  Schechter  Studies  in  Judaism,  I,  16  fif.  (Philadelphia, 
1896). 

*  Raisin,  The  Haskala  Movement   (Philadelphia,   1913). 

12 


the;  RUSSIAN  caree;r. 

well  as  in  the  traditional  Hebrew  disciplines,  which 
had  formed  the  entire  content  of  education  hitherto. 
This  Haskala  movement  in  Russia  was  the  reflex  of 
the  Mendelssohnian  movement  in  Germany,  but  the 
obstacles  in  Russia,  both  within  from  the  Jewish  com- 
munities, and  without  from  the  government  were  much 
greater  and  progress  was  therefore  much  more  re- 
tarded. 

As  early  as  the  year  1800,  a  physician,  Dr.  Frank, 
who  had  studied  in  BerHn  and  settled  in  western 
Russia,  published  a  severe  arraignment  of  the  educa- 
tional methods  then  in  vogue  among  Russian  Jews; 
he  advocated  the  establishment  of  schools  in  which 
instruction  should  be  imparted  in  Russian,  German 
and  Hebrew  along  modern  lines.^  This  publication 
attracted  the  notice  of  the  government  and  attention 
began  to  be  paid  to  the  subject  of  the  education  of 
the  Jewish  youth.  A  decree  issued  in  1804  granted 
Jews  admission  to  the  educational  institutions  of  the 
government.  In  this  decree  the  warning  was  given 
that  if  the  permission  here  given  was  not  taken  ad- 
vantage of,  special  Jewish  schools,  the  expense  of 
which  would  have  to  be  borne  by  the  Jews,  would  be 
instituted  by  the  government.  When  the  government 
took  steps  to  found  such  schools,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  very  few  of  the  Jewish  young  visited  the  govern- 
ment schools,  the  native  Jews  put  forth  all  efiforts  to 
prevent  this.  A  few  schools  for  general  culture  were 
founded  in  course  of  time  with  the  help  of  foreign 
Jews,  the  first  being  that  at  Uman,  established  in  1820 

'Julius  Hessen,  Die  russische  Regicrung  und  die  wcst- 
europ'dischen  Juden — Zur  Schulreform  in  Russland,  1840-44, 
5  (St.  Petersburg,  1913). 


13 


MAX  LIUENTHAIv. 

under  the  superintendency  of  a  Galician  Jew,  Meier 
Horn.* 

In  1823,  Isaac  Beer  Levinsohn,  possibly  the  most 
famous  of  the  leaders  in  the  Haskalah  movement, 
directed  a  petition  in  German  to  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine  to  found  schools  for  Jewish  children  and 
academies  for  Jewish  teachers. '^  He  also  issued  a 
publication  in  Hebrew"  in  which  he  urged  his  views 
upon  his  coreligionists  to  the  effect  that  besides  a 
knowledge  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  and  their  mean- 
ing, of  the  Mishnah  and  the  Talmud,  and  of  the  He- 
brew language,  it  was  necessary  that  the  Jew  know 
also  other  languages  and  especially  the  language  of 
his  country ;  also  that  he  should  learn  a  trade  and  not- 
ably agriculture.  He  followed  this  up  with  a  petition 
to  the  czar,  Nicholas  I,  in  1836  that  schools  be  estab- 
lished for  Jewish  children,  through  the  instruction 
they  received  in  which  they  might  become  useful  citi- 
zens to  the  country ;  if  Jewish  children  had  proper 
teachers  they  would  realize  the  fondest  expectations.'^ 
Although  the  emperor  received  the  petition  graciously, 
nothing  was  done  towards  realizing  the  proposal  at 
this  time. 

However,  the  ideas  here  suggested  by  Levinsohn 

■*  Seven  years  previously,  in  1813,  Joseph  Perl  had  opened 
a  school  in  Tarnopol,  Galicia.  Technically  this  was  the  first 
such  school  in  Russia  as  Tarnopol  happened  to  belong  to 
Russia  at  that  time,  it  having  been  ceded  to  that  country  by 
Austria  in  1810;  however,  it  was  recovered  by  Austria  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1814,  and  has  remained  part  of  that 
empire  since.  Hence  the  school  at  Tarnopol  can  scarcely  be 
considered  a  Russian  but  rather  an  Austrian  Jewish  school. 

^  David  Kahana  Lilienthal  we  haskalat  hayehudim  beriis- 
siyah  in  Haschiloach,  XXVII,  320. 

"  Teudah  Beyisrael  (Vilna,  1836).     Kahana.     Ibid, 

'  Kahana.     Ibid,  321. 

14 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREe;R. 

were  carried  out  in  two  places :  in  Odessa  where  such 
a  school  was  founded  by  Basilius  (Bezalel)  Stern,  a 
native  of  Tarnopol,  Galicia,  and  in  Riga  in  Livonia, 
to  the  superintendency  of  which  Max  Lilienthal  was 
called  from  Munich  in  Germany. 

In  the  year  1837,  a  letter  appeared  in  the  columns 
of  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums,^  dated 
Riga,  November  13,  1837,  and  signed  by  the  officers 
of  the  congregation,  H.  W.  Hamburger,  N.  A.  Schei- 
nesson,  Benj.  Nachman  and  N.  Berkowitz.  This  let- 
ter sets  forth  the  desire  of  the  congregation  for  a 
German  teacher  and  preacher,  since  German  was  the 
mother  tongue  of  the  Jews  of  Riga ;  such  a  man  was 
not  to  be  found  in  Russia  where  there  was  no  modern 
education  and  no  modern  enlightenment  among  the 
Jews.  The  leader  they  desired  must  be  a  man  of 
modern  culture,  but  of  conservative  religious  tenden- 
cies. 

The  following  year  Count  Uwarofif,  the  Minister 
of  Education,  came  to  Riga,  and  the  representatives 
of  the  Jewish  congregation  presented  to  him  a  petition 
requesting  governmental  permission  to  open  a  school 
in  two  sections,  the  one  for  boys  and  the  other  for 
girls,  wherein  the  Jewish  religion  was  to  be  taught 
systematically  and  instruction  in  the  Bible  was  to  be 
given  after  the  German  translation  of  Mendelssohn; 
the  superintendent  was  to  be  a  foreigner  of  the  Jewish 
faith  who  had  been  trained  in  the  spirit  of  pure  en- 
lightenment ;  the  assistant  was  to  be  a  Christian,  This 
petition  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  Uwarofif  and  he 
considered  it  of  such  interest  and  importance  that  he 
laid  it  before  the  czar.   Being  favored  by  the  emperor, 

•Vol.  I,  410-12. 

15 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

the  request  to  found  the  school  was  ratified.  Steps 
were  taken  at  once  to  put  the  plan  into  operation.  As 
the  school  was  by  the  action  of  the  emperor  under  gov- 
ernmental protection,  Uwaroff  undertook  to  secure  a 
capable  superintendent ;  as  already  stated,  through 
the  recommendation  of  Ludwig  Philippson,  the  choice 
fell  upon  Max  Lilienthal. 

The  young  man,  only  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
left  his  father's  house  on  the  eighth  day  of  October, 
1839.  In  a  letter  written  to  his  brother  eighteen 
months  later  in  which  he  gives  a  detailed  account 
of  the  journey  from  his  home  to  St.  Petersburg,  he 
says  in  speaking  of  this  departure:  "You  know 
the  pain  of  farewell ;  wherefore  then  should  I  picture 
it,  wherefore  reopen  the  wound  that  has  begun  to 
close?"  He  arranged  his  itinerary  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  stop  at  a  number  of  cities  where  he  might  meet 
well-known  Jewish  leaders ;  at  Madgeburg  he  con- 
sulted with  Philippson,  at  Hamburg  with  Salomon  and 
Kley,  the  preachers  of  the  famous  reform  congrega- 
tions, and  at  Altona  with  Steinheim,  the  philosophical 
writer  whom  he  terms  "the  Maimonides  of  our  day". 
He  arrived  at  St.  Petersburg  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
October,  where  he  had  some  audiences  with  Uwaroff 
and  with  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  Count  Strog- 
anofif.  In  this  same  letter  he  tells  why  he  had  gone  to 
St.  Petersburg  first  instead  of  proceeding  directly  to 
Riga:  "I  had  journeyed  hither  at  the  wish  of  the 
congregation  to  intercede  here  in  their  interest,  for 
they  are  engaged  at  present  in  the  struggle  to  secure 
the  rights  of  citizenship.  In  carrying  out  this  com- 
mission I  won  the  friendship  of  many  prominent  men 
who  were  most  helpful  to  me.  Having  convinced 
myself  that  the  congregation  would  experience  great 

16 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

difficulty  in  achieving  its  purpose  and  that  for  this 
reason  the  position  of  the  school  is  very  precarious, 
which  anyone  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  the  conditions 
in  this  country  readily  perceives,  I  sought  to  pave  the 
way  for  a  future  rich  in  possibilities  by  submitting  to 
the  said  ministers  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  con- 
sistories, which  was  received  with  much  favor". 

The  Jews  of  Riga  had  been  engaged  for  some  years 
in  the  struggle  to  establish  their  right  of  citizenship. 
They  had  been  living  in  Riga  a  long  time  and  had 
been  left  unmolested.  In  1797  the  Jews  had  secured 
from  Emperor  Paul  the  right  to  have  their  names 
entered  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  city ;  the  Chris- 
tians attempted  to  have  this  permission  nullified  by  all 
manner  of  devices ;  the  struggle  continued  for  forty 
years  until  finally  in  1835  a  ukase  was  issued  which 
contained  the  provision  that  Riga  was  among  the 
localities  in  which  Jews  were  permitted  to  live.  The 
claim  of  the  Jews  that  this  permission  carried  with  it 
the  right  to  form  a  congregation  being  contested  by 
Christians,  the  matter,  after  a  struggle  of  six  years, 
was  finally  settled  by  an  imperial  decree  of  December 
17,  1841,  which  declared:  first,  that  Jews  who  had 
actually  had  their  residence  in  Riga  up  to  that  time 
should  be  enrolled  as  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  be 
permitted  to  continue  their  residence  there,  without, 
however,  enjoying  the  right  of  citizenship  or  the  right 
to  possess  real  estate ;  secondly,  Jews  of  other  places 
were  from  now  on  forbidden  to  remove  to  Riga  ; 
thirdly,  the  Jews  who  by  this  decree  were  permitted  to 
enrol  themselves  as  inhabitants  of  Riga  must  wear 
German  dress ;  fourthly,  the  fixing  of  the  rights 
whereby  Jews  could  pursue  business  in  Riga  would 
be   included   in   the  general   decree   concerning   com- 

17 


MAX  IvILlENTHAL. 

merce  in  Riga.  In  1842,  517  Jews  were  enrolled  as 
inhabitants  of  Riga  under  the  style  and  title :  "The 
Jewish  community  of  Riga".'' 

After  a  sojourn  of  ten  weeks  in  St.  Petersburg, 
Lilienthal  arrived  at  Riga  on  January  12,  1840.  He 
was  greeted  with  enthusiasm.  He  himself  entered  up- 
on his  new  task  with  the  highest  hopes.  He  was  to 
blaze  a  new  path.  It  was  a  mission  which  might  well 
exalt  any  man.  He  was  to  proclaim  to  his  people  the 
message  of  the  new  era,  to  bring  light  where  there  was 
darkness.  Could  he  have  looked  into  the  future,  he 
might  well  have  been  discouraged,  but  he  saw  only  the 
great  possibilities  of  the  opportunity  that  had  come 
to  him.  Even  fourteen  months  after  he  arrived  in 
Russia  and  seven  months  after  he  had  begun  his 
larger  work,  in  spite  of  the  obstacles  that  he  had 
already  encountered,  he  still  felt  that  his  mission  was 
divinely  ordained,  for  in  the  letter  referred  to  above 
he  wrote  to  his  father :  "Am  I  to  believe  that  God 
has  cast  me  into  Russia  merely  to  humor  a  whim  and 
that  He  will  thrust  me  forth  again  to  satisfy  His 
pleasure?  I  think  otherwise  when  I  consider  what  I 
have  accomplished  in  seven  months". 

His  work  in  Russia  began  with  the  establishment 
of  the  school  at  Riga.  The  school  was  opened  on 
January  16,  1840.  Lilienthal  delivered  the  inaugural 
address  in  German.  The  young  director  devoted  him- 
self to  his  task  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Secular 
as  well  as  sacred  branches  were  taught.  The  entire 
day  was  consumed  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  of 
the  school.  The  efforts  of  Lilienthal  called  forth  a 
remarkable  encomium  from  Professor  Risberg,  of  the 

'Wunderbar,  Geschichte  dcr  Juden  in  Liv-  und  Kurland, 
12-13  (Mitau,  1853). 

18 


the;  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

University  of  Dorpat,  who  reported  to  Count  Uwaroff 
as  follows:  "The  Jewish  school  in  Riga,  which  was 
founded  recently  under  the  guidance  of  the  genial, 
experienced  and  thorough  scholar.  Doctor  Lilienthal, 
has  attained  already  a  flourishing  development.  I  re- 
port with  pleasure  the  astonishing  results  in  geog- 
raphy, history  and  arithmetic,  German  grammar  and 
the  Russian  language.  The  present  attainment  of  this 
new  seat  of  enlightenment  surpasses  all  the  most 
eager  expectations  and  assures  for  it  a  joyous,  brilliant 
future".'" 

Uwarofif  quoted  these  words  in  a  statement  to  the 
czar  concerning  Lilienthal's  work  in  Riga.  In  recog- 
nition of  this  work  and  the  spirit  evinced  in  Lilien- 
thal's inaugural  address  at  the  opening  of  the  school, 
the  czar  presented  him  with  a  diamond  ring. 

The  congregation  also  elected  Lilienthal  preacher. 
His  sermons  delivered  in  the  German  language'^  at- 
tracted large  congregations  of  both  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians. The  Jews  recognized  in  a  short  time  his  earn- 
estness and  conscientiousness  and  the  suspicions  that 
they  may  have  entertained  soon  disappeared.  The 
rabbi  of  the  community,  a  Talmudist  of  the  old 
school,  gave  him  a  hearty  welcome.  Neither  inter- 
fered with  the  sphere  of  the  other.  Lilienthal's  fame 
spread  beyond  the  confines  of  Riga.  The  Maskilim 
hailed  him  as  a  new  and  great  leader.  He  entered  into 
correspondence  with  a  number  of  them,  notably  the 

'"  Quoted  in  Scheinhaus,  Ein  Deutscher  Pionier  {Dr.  Lilien- 
thal's Kultiirversitch  in  Rnssland) ;  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des 
Judenthums,  Vol.  LXXV  (1911),  405. 

"These  sermons  were  published  in  a  volume  entitled 
Predigten  in  der  Synagoge  zu  Riga  (Riga,  1841).  The  vol- 
ume was  dedicated  to  Uwaroff. 

19 


MAX  UURNTIIAL. 

famous  M.  A.  Giinzberg^^  and  Nissin  Rosenthal,  the 
most  prominent  of  the  Maskilim  of  Vilna. 

His  great  success  in  Riga  made  him  a  marked  man.^^ 
He  was  eulogized  by  the  advocates  of  the  newer  edu- 
cation among  the  Russian  Jews  and  denounced  as  a 
"Berliner"  or  "Datschel"  and  an  innovator  by  the 
Chassidim  and  the  followers  of  the  old  order. 
Uwaroff,  too,  kept  in  constant  touch  with  his  work. 
After  he  had  been  active  in  Riga  a  year,  Lilienthal 
was  called  to  St.  Petersburg  by  the  minister  to  in- 
augurate the  larger  task  of  founding  schools  in  all  the 
Russian  Jewish  communities  like  unto  that  which  he 
had  manned  so  successfully  in  Riga. 

Preliminary  steps  toward  this  end  had  already  been 
taken.  In  1839  the  Czar  Nicholas  evinced  the  first 
spark  of  kindly  feeling  towards  his  Jewish  subjects 
when  he  said  of  them,  "They  are  my  children  and  my 
servants  altogether".  He  issued  a  ukase  calling  for 
assemblies  in  six  cities  in  the  provinces  where  the 
Jews  dwelt  in  greatest  numbers  for  the  discussion  of 
such  themes  as  the  position  and  the  work  of  the  rabbis, 
the  education  of  the  children  and  how  to  make  good 
and  useful  citizens  of  the  Jews.  At  the  same  time  a 
council  of  ministers,  with  Uwaroff  at  their  head,  was 
held  in  St.  Petersburg  to  deliberate  on  the  same  sub- 
jects. They  decided  to  open  schools  for  Jewish  chil- 
dren.    As  a  result  of  this  conference  Uwaroff  sub- 

''  See  letter  of  March  21,  1840,  to  M.  A.  Gunzberg,  pub- 
lished in  Ost  und  West,  1910,  379-82.  See  also  Hebrew  letter 
of  date  July  22,  1842,  to  N.  Rosenthal,  published  in  Leket 
Amarim,  1889. 

"  A  vivid  description  of  the  impression  made  by  Lilien- 
thal on  the  rising  generation  of  Russian  Jews  may  be  found 
in  the  autobiography  entitled  Memoiren  einer  Grossmutter, 
by  Pauline  Wengeroff,  I,  118-137   (Berlin,  1908). 

20 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREER. 

mitted  to  the  czar  in  March,  1841,  a  document  entitled 
"Decrees  for  the  Jews",  in  which  it  was  set  forth  that 
such  schools  would  lessen  the  influence  of  the  Talmud 
among  the  Jews  and  bring  them  nearer  the  people  of 
the  country  and  the  reigning  faith.  The  emperor 
stamped  this  document  with  his  approval  by  the  words 
in  his  own  handwriting,  "The  principles  are  sound". 
At  the  same  time  he  promised  to  do  all  he  could  for 
the  education  of  the  Jews  of  his  realm. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  narrative  it 
may  be  well  to  say  a  word  about  the  purpose  of  the 
emperor  and  his  ministers  in  this  matter  of  founding 
modern  schools  for  the  Jews,  as  evidenced  by  the 
statement  of  the  emperor  just  quoted,  namely,  that  the 
principles  of  the  ministerial  document  were  sound. 
Many  Jews  were  suspicious  of  the  sincerity  of  the 
government ;  they  looked  upon  the  whole  plan  as  a 
proselytizing  scheme.  Such  claimed  that  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  Jews,  and  this  alone,  would  prove  the 
sincerity  of  the  government  in  its  educational  pro- 
jects for  the  Jews.  The  entire  attitude  of  the  em- 
peror justified  them  in  their  suspicions.  His  efforts 
as  ruler  were  directed  towards  the  realization  of  his 
motto :  "One  country,  one  language,  one  church".  It 
was  these  justifiable  suspicions  that  proved  the  most 
difficult  obstacle  for  Lilienthal  to  overcome.  When, 
for  example,  at  the  meeting  held  in  Vilna  for  the 
consideration  of  the  plan,  he  was  asked  the  question 
by  one  of  the  members  present,  "What  guarantee  can 
you  offer  us  that  our  religion  will  not  be  interfered 
with  ?"  he  answered :  "You  know  a  great  deal  better 
than  I  that  I  am  unable  to  offer  you  any  guarantee  on 
the  part  of  the  department.  The  emperor's  will  reigns 
supreme  and  autocratic ;  he  can  recall  today  what  he 

21 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

promised  yesterday ;  he  changes  his  officers  and  their 
systems  whenever  he  pleases ;  how  should  I,  an  hum- 
ble stranger,  be  able  to  offer  you  a  guarantee?  I  am 
not  empowered  to  do  it.  All  that  I  can  promise  you 
as  your  coreligionist  is,  that  I  shall  not  go  a  step  fur- 
ther in  promoting  the  plans  of  the  government  before 
having  obtained  the  assurance  that  nothing  will  be 
undertaken  against  our  holy  religion,  that  I  shall  lay 
down  my  office  as  soon  as  I  shall  become  convinced  to 
the  contrary  and  that  no  offense  on  the  part  of  my 
brethren  shall  excuse  me  for  breaking  the  promise  I 
am  giving  you  at  this  solemn  hour".^* 

In  one  of  his  conversations  with  Uwaroff,  Lilien- 
thal  communicated  to  the  minister  this  fear  of  the 
Jews  that  the  emperor's  educational  plan  was  merely 
a  blind  for  wholesale  conversion  and  that  it  was  not 
sincerely  meant.  When  asked  how  these  apprehen- 
sions might  be  removed,  he  answered:  "To  grant  at 
once  their  emancipation ;  or  if  the  government  con- 
siders this  step  a  hasty  one,  to  grant  them  at  least 
some  favors,  convincing  them  unquestionably  that 
their  religious  rights  will  not  be  infringed  upon,  nor 
their  liberties  be  curtailed  further,  and  that  a  bright, 
hopeful  future  is  in  store  for  them."^^  Uwaroff  now 
assured  him  that  the  emperor's  intentions  were  only 
for  the  welfare  of  his  Jewish  subjects.  That  he 
trusted  thoroughly  in  the  representations  of  Uwaroff 
that  there  was  no  ulterior  conversionist  purpose  in 
the  plan  there  can  not  be  the  least  doubt,  for  as 
soon  as,  to  his  dismay,  he  became  convinced  to  the 
contrary,  he  left  the  country,  as  shall  appear  in  the 
sequel. 

^*  My  Travels  in  Russia.    Infra,  p.  247. 
''  Ibid. 

22 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREE;r. 

We  have  a  contemporary  account  from  Lilienthal's 
own  hand  of  the  steps  that  led  to  his  call  to  St.  Peters- 
burg from  Riga  and  inaugurated  directly  his  mission 
to  his  Russian  coreligionists.  In  a  letter  to  Ludwig 
Philippson  dated  February  14,  1842,  he  writes : 

"It  was  the  emperor's  own  idea — not  having  been 
submitted  to  him  either  by  the  Council  of  Ministers 
or  the  Imperial  Cabinet — to  open  to  his  Russian  Jews 
the  door  of  hope  to  a  happier  future,  through  the 
agency  of  a  freer,  more  scientific  education  permeated 
with  the  spirit  of  religion,  in  place  of  the  former,- 
purely  TalmudfcaT  instruction.  He,  the  ruler  of  the 
greatest  empire  in  the  world's  history,  whose  fatherly 
heart  and  imperial  soul  provide  for  millions,  turned 
his  merciful  eye  to  this  poor,  wretched  people,  and 
with  the  energy,  the  acumen  and  the  wisdom  which 
so  brilliantly  distinguish  Russia's  politics.  His  Serene 
Majesty  commanded  the  ministers  concerned  to  ex- 
amine into  the  present  status  of  the  Jews,  to  institute 
the  necessary  deliberations,  and  to  submit  the  sugges- 
tions resulting  therefrom  to  him  for  examination  and 
approval. 

"The  ministers  took  steps  to  carry  out  this  com- 
mand, and  the  first  result  of  the  deliberations  which 
was  made  public  was  the  formation  of  special  com- 
mittees in  each  general  province  in  which  Jews  lived. 
There  were  six  of  these ;  since  Jews  live  only  in 
Liv-  und  Kurland,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Gov- 
ernor-General Baron  von  Pahlen ;  in  the  provinces 
Vilna,  Grodno,  Minsk  and  Bialystok,  under  the  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Mirkowitsch  ;  in  Kief,  Zhitomir  and 
Volhynia,  under  Lieutenant-General  Bibikoff;  in  Bes- 
sarabia and  Kherson,  under  the  Adjutant-General 
Count  Woronzefif;  in  Chernigof  and  Poltava,  under 

23 


MAX  UUEJNTHAI,. 

the  Adjutant-General  Prim  Dolgonicki;  and  in  Vitebsk 
and  Mogilef,  under  the  Lieutenant-General  Diakoff. 

"Several  Jews  were  placed  on  every  committee 
which  was  composed  of  a  number  of  officials,  and 
even  though  one  of  the  chief  subjects  of  the  delibera- 
tions was  the  office  and  the  duties  of  the  new  govern- 
mental rabbis^^  who  were  to  be  appointed,  still  all 
were  commanded  to  express  their  opinion  on  the  pres- 
ent state  of  the  Jews  and  to  offer  suggestions  for  pos- 
sible changes  which  would  lead  to  an  improvement  of 
this  condition. 

"Until  January,  1841,  the  documents  had  to  be  sent 
back  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  for  examination 
by  local  authorities ;  further  action  was  based  upon 
their  findings  and  suggestions. 

"Shortly  after  the  expiration  of  said  term,  the  com- 
mand of  His  Excellency,  the  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction Uwaroff,  to  journey  at  once  to  St.  Peters- 
burg to  participate  in  the  deliberations  touching  my 
service,  was  communicated  to  me  through  the  Curator 
of  the  Educational  District  of  Dorpat.  Traveling  and 
living  expenses  were  paid  me  by  the  government  and 
I  made  haste  to  reach  the  imperial  city. 

"His  Excellency,  the  Minister,  received  me  for  the 
first  time  on  Saturday  evening  at  seven  o'clock.  This 
evening  hour  was  set  for  me  in  order  that  my  visit 
might  be  undisturbed  by  other  visits  and  audiences; 
this  first  conference  lasted  three  hours.  I  had  the 
opportunity  that  evening  to  learn  to  honor  and  admire 
the  humane  man  in  the  great  statesman.  In  words  of 
real  concern,  he  pictured  the  neglect  and  the  debase- 

"The  so-called  crown  rabbis  who,  as  government  officials, 
are  the  recognized  intermediaries  between  the  government 
and  the  Jewish  communities. 

24 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREER. 

ment  of  the  Jewish  people  in  Russia,  and  betrayed  in 
every  portrayal  the  keen  judge,  the  thorough  student 
of  the  character  of  this  nation.  In  most  eloquent 
speech  he  praised  the  great  thoughts  of  the  exalted 
ruler,  the  many  hopes,  the  blessed  results  which  would 
ensue  therefrom;  and  true  joy  beamed  from  every 
feature  as  he  began  to  explain  to  me  the  part  which 
had  been  assigned  also  to  him  in  the  great  work  of 
humanity  through  the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  school 
system. 

"A  double  task  was  assigned  me  by  His  Excellency 
during  my  five  weeks'  sojourn  in  the  ministry:  first, 
to  place  myself  into  communication  with  the  most 
famous  Jews  of  Germany,  in  order  to  learn  the  num- 
ber of  such  as  would  accept  a  call  to  the  schools  to 
be  established;  and,  secondly,  to  participate  in  the 
elaboration  of  the  necessary  preliminaries,  plans,  out- 
lines, etc.,  under  the  constant  personal  supervision  of 
the  minister  himself. 

"The  work  proceeded  rapidly  under  the  interested 
direction  of  the  minister,  while  we  looked  for  the 
replies  which  were  to  reach  us  from  Germany  and 
waited  to  learn  what  impression  the  large-hearted 
project  of  the  monarch  would  make  on  the  German 
Jews. 

"Addresses  of  thanks  and  enthusiastic  communica- 
tions dictated  by  the  most  sincere  admiration  were 
sent  to  the  monarch  from  several  congregations  in 
Germany  and  were  received  graciously;  letters  were 
written  to  the  minister  by  the  most  celebrated  Jewish 
litterateurs,  and  utterance  was  given  to  the  warmest 
appreciation  of  the  high  aim  of  his  efforts.  The  ap- 
pointments were  to  follow  in  short  order,  it  was 
promised.     Since  the  purpose  of  my  presence  in  St. 

25 


MAX  IvILlENTHAIv. 

Petersburg  was  now  fulfilled,  I  was  dismissed  by  His 
Excellency ;  but  I  received  the  command  to  remain  in 
uninterrupted  communication  with  the  department  of 
the  ministry,  and  to  await  further  instructions. 

"I  returned  to  Riga  on  the  sixth  of  March  of  last 
year  (1841)  and  through  the  good  offices,  particu- 
larly of  Doctors  Philippson,  Jost,  Geiger,  Mann- 
heimer,^^  Auerbach,  etc.,  I  received  the  names  of  over 
two  hundred  men  who  were  willing  to  emigrate  under 
favorable  conditions  and  offers  and  to  accept  the  posi- 
tions that  were  to  be  created.  The  warm  participation 
of  foreign  coreligionists  in  the  lot  of  the  Russian  Jews, 
the  correct  understanding  of  the  emperor's  idea,  the 
thorough  comprehension  of  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
the  large-hearted  minister  were  duly  appreciated,  and 
the  necessary  steps  were  taken  at  once  to  secure  the 
information  prescribed  by  law  concerning  the  foreign 
candidates.  The  first  difficulties  had  been  overcome, 
it  is  true,  but  since  matters  can  not  be  settled  so 
readily  in  the  great  domain  of  Russia  as  in  the  small 
kingdoms  of  Germany,  but  require  a  careful  consul- 
tation on  the  manner  of  accommodation  to  the  most 
diverse  local  conditions,  the  desired  call  could  not  be 
issued  to  the  foreigners  as  quickly  as  they  wished. 
And  while  matters  were  proceeding  here  towards  their 
solution  quietly  but  slowly,  a  rumor  which  was  with- 

'°  Philippson  himself  was  willing  to  come  to  Russia  to  as- 
sist in  the  great  task  which  aroused  his  utmost  enthusiasm; 
so  also  Jost;  Geiger  declined  to  go,  although  he  offered  his 
good  offices  in  aiding  young  men  who  might  desire  to  go; 
Mannheimer  and  Sulzer  volunteered  to  train  young  men  in 
preaching  and  in  the  liturgy  of  the  Viennese  temple  so  as  to 
fit  them  for  positions  in  Russia.  See  Hessen,  Die  russische 
Eegierung  und  die  westeuropaischen  Juden — Zur  Schulre- 
form  in  Russland,  1840-44,  pp.  10  ff.   (St.  Petersburg,  1913). 

26 


the;  RUSSIAN  care:e;r. 

out  any  foundation  spread  through  Germany  that  the 
project  had  been  abandoned  and  all  further  consulta- 
tion had  been  dropped. 

"However,  instead  of  this  being  the  case,  I  was 
occupied  during  the  past  year  with  the  most  diverse 
commissions  which  had  been  entrusted  to  me  by  the 
ministry,  and  we  recognized  herein  the  quiet  begin- 
nings of  the  undertaking  which  merely  awaited  the 
favorable  opportunity  in  order  to  proceed  to  its  solu- 
tion. 

"This  came  when  the  honorary  citizen,  Nissin 
Rosenthal,  of  Vilna,  while  in  St.  Petersburg,  was 
commissioned  by  His  Excellency  at  his  own  request 
to  bring  me  to  Vilna  in  order  that  I  might  either  in- 
duce that  Jewish  community  to  found  a  free  school 
or  smooth  out  the  differences  between  the  already 
existing  schools  which  were  under  the  supervision  of 
the  said  Mr.  Rosenthal  and  a  Mr.  Klatzko."^^ 

In  Vilna,  largely  through  the  active  and  enthusi- 
astic support  of  Rosenthal,  Klatzko  and  their  friends 
among  the  Maskilim,  Lilienthal  succeeded  in  gaining 
the  endorsement  of  the  community  for  the  govern- 
mental plan.  From  Vilna  he  proceeded  to  Minsk, 
having  received  an  invitation  from  the  Jewish  leaders 
of  that  city  to  come  there.  The  Jewish  community  of 
this  city  had  shown  no  sympathy  whatsoever  with 
the  Haskala  movement,  but  quite  the  contrary;  most 
active  opposition  had  been  evinced  against  any  and 
all  such  attempts.  Lilienthal's  friends  and  admirers 
among  the  Maskilim  of  Vilna,  fearing  that  the  invi- 
tation to  come  to  Minsk  was  a  plot  to  lure  him  from 
Vilna  and  to  devise  some  scheme  against  him  that 

"  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums,  VI,  602-611. 

27 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

would  prevent  the  further  prosecution  of  his  work, 
implored  him  not  to  proceed  to  that  city.  They 
pointed  out  to  him  that  he  would  be  friendless  there 
and  in  a  hotbed  of  opposition  and  enmity.  He  felt, 
however,  so  secure  in  the  strength  of  his  mission  and 
his  ability  to  present  it,  that  he  proceeded  undaunted 
to  this  stronghold  of  Chassidism  and  rigid  orthodoxy. 
Here  his  reception  was  altogether  different  from  that 
accorded  to  him  in  Vilna.  He  was  bitterly  insulted. 
It  appeared  at  times  that  even  his  life  was  in  danger. 
The  fanatics  mocked  him,  following  him  through  the 
streets  and  shouting  derisively,  "Get  thee  gone,  shaven 
one  ;^^  get  thee  gone".  The  meeting  at  which  he  set 
forth  his  plans  was  very  stormy ;  all  his  eloquence 
availed  him  naught.  He  was  utterly  defeated.  The 
reactionaries  carried  the  day  and  Lilienthal  left  Minsk 
to  return  to  Vilna,  feeling  that  the  task  he  had  under- 
taken would  prove  most  difficult  of  fulfillment.  The 
effect  of  his  defeat  at  Minsk  proved  disastrous  in 
Vilna.  During  his  absence,  his  enemies  had  been 
active.  They  succeeded  in  reversing  the  sentiment  of 
the  community.  Lilienthal,  noting  the  change,  asked 
that  another  meeting  be  called  at  which  he  might  pre- 
sent his  cause  a  second  time,  and  possibly  win  over 
the  people  once  again.  He  pleaded  in  vain.  No  sec- 
ond assembly  was  called.  His  experience  in  Minsk 
and  his  second  attempt  at  Vilna  convinced  him  that 
he  must  labor  hard  indeed  to  gain  the  Jewish  com- 
munities for  his  cause. 

He  returned  to   St.   Petersburg;    in  reporting  his 

"  Being  clean  shaven,  Lilienthal  was  looked  upon  with 
suspicion  by  the  Russian  Jews,  who  cut  neither  the  corners 
of  their  hair  nor  their  beards  in  obedience  to  the  command : 
Lev.  xix,  27. 

28 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

failure  at  Minsk  to  Count  Uwaroff,  he  took  a  most 
noble  attitude.  He  exonerated  his  persecutors  from 
all  blame  and  urged  the  minister  not  to  visit  any 
displeasure  upon  them. 

During  his  sojourn  at  St.  Petersburg  where  he  ar- 
rived in  April,  1842,  he  worked  out  in  conjunction 
with  the  department  of  the  Ministry  of  Education  the 
plan  for  the  organization  of  Jewish  education.  As  a 
result  of  these  deliberations,  the  edict  containing  the 
following  provisions  was  promulgated  July  4: 

1.  All  schools  and  institutions  of  learning  of  the 
Jews,  whatever  be  the  name  by  which  they  are  desig- 
nated, not  even  excepting  those  in  which  the  instruc- 
tion deals  with  the  learned  interpretation  of  the  Mo- 
saic law  and  of  their  sacred  books,  as  well  as  such  as 
are  devoted  to  the  education  of  the  young,  being  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  this  department,  are  to  be  reorgan- 
ized in  accordance  with  the  general  educational  regu- 
lations prevailing  throughout  the  empire. 

2.  To  carry  out  this  plan  a  commission,  consisting 
of  four  rabbis,  is  to  be  established  here  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. They  are  to  be  selected  with  the  approval  of 
the  minister  and  the  governors-general  of  the  four 
provinces  whose  population  consists  practically  alto- 
gether of  Jews. 

3.  The  work  of  the  commission  is  to  reorganize 
intellectually  the  Jews  living  in  the  Russian  empire. 
After  performing  this  important  task,  the  commission 
is  to  be  discharged,  but  the  members  will  receive  ade- 
quate compensation  for  their  labors.^'* 

Lilienthal  was  now  commissioned  to  visit  the  Jew- 
ish communities  of  Russia  to  acquaint  them  with  the 

^'  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  JudentJmms,  VI,   529. 

29 


MAX  IvILlENTHAIv. 

provisions  of  this  edict,  to  induce  them  to  accede 
peaceably  to  the  governmental  plan  and  to  elect  the 
members  of  the  rabbinical  commission  as  provided 
for  in  the  edict.  He  was  to  midertake  this  journey  as 
the  representative  of  the  government ;  his  journey  was 
to  proceed  through  all  the  provinces  inhabited  by  the 
Jews. 

In  the  fourth  paragraph  of  the  letter  of  instructions 
issued  to  him,^°  the  assurance  is  given  that  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Jews  was  not  to  be  interfered  with. 
Lilienthal  had  demanded  that  this  be  included  in  order 
that  all  suspicions  might  be  dispelled  and  the  consent 
of  the  Jews  to  the  plan  be  thus  obtained  the  more 
readily. 

Before  embarking  on  this  all-important  journey,  he 
issued  his  famous  address  to  the  Russian  Jews,  en- 
titled "Maggid  Jeshuah"-^  (The  Announcer  of  Salva- 

'"  This  letter  of  instruction  is  included  in  full  in  Lilien- 
thal's  My  Travels  in  Russia;  infra,  p.  331-3. 

^^The  address  called  forth  an  anonymous  rejoinder  en- 
titled Maggid  Emcth  (The  Announcer  of  the  Truth).  The 
writer  of  this  answer  is  actuated  by  a  bitter  spirit  of  enmity 
and  opposition  to  Lilienthal ;  he  claims  that  Lilienthal  desired 
merely  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  rich,  that  he  was  hypo- 
critical in  that  he  was  m(5st  puncHHous  in  observing  every 
ceremony  in  order  to  curry  favor  with  the  orthodox.  Kahana, 
whose  article  on  Lilienthal  and  the  Haskalah  (in  Hashiloach, 
XXVII,  314-22,  446-57,  546-56)  is  distinctly  antagoxjistic, 
claims  that  this  rejoinder  was  written  by  the  famous  Maskil, 
M.  A.  Gijnzberg,  to  whom  Lilienthal  showed  himself  most 
ungrateful  after  Giinzberg  had  aided  him  with  his  influenced 
It  has  been  pointed  out  that  M.  A.  Giinzberg  could  not  have 
written  this  rejoinder  because  in  a  later  publication  Kikayon 
Deyonah  he  criticizes  the  Maggid  Emeth  for  the  attack  on 
Lilienthal  (Scheinhaus  Bin  deutscher  Pionier).  Either 
Scheinhaus  is  correct  in  his  contention,  which  seems  most 
probable,    or    if    not,    and    Giinzberg    did    write    the   Maggid 

30 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREIER. 

tion).  This  remarkable  document  created  a  great  stir 
among  the  Jews  of  Russia.  It  was  in  this  address  to 
his  coreligionists  that  he  announced  the  purpose  of  the 
government  to  convene  the  commission  on  Jewish 
education  that  was  to  have  four  members  elected  by 
the  Jews  themselves  who  were  to  work  out  the  plan 
for  the  schools  that  were  to  be  established  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  Jewish  young.  He  called  upon  his  core- 
ligionists to  take  advantage  of  the  humane  and  well- 
intentioned  purposes  of  the  government.  If  they  failed 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  great  opportunity  their 
enemies  would  find  comfort  and  justification  in  the 
claim  that  the  wretched  condition  of  the  Russian  Jews 
was  their  own  fault  and  was  due  to  their  ignorance 
and  superstition. 

Towards  the  end  of  July,  1842,  Lilienthal  started 
forth  on  what  may  be  called  his  propagandist  journey 
to  win  the  Jews  to  the  governmental  plan  of  reform- 
ing the  Jewish  educational  system.  His  progress  was 
alrnost  in  the  nature  of  a  triumphal  march.  He  visited 
j/oloshii),  the  seat  of  the  most  famous  Yeshibah  in 
iCussia ;  Minsk,  Lubowitz,  a  stronghold  of  the  Chassi- 
dim,  Grodno,  Berdichef,  Mogilef,  Kherson,  Kishinef 
and  Odessa.  He  was  greeted  everywhere  with  ac- 
claim. The  suspicions  which  had  been  entertained  of 
the  purity  of  his  purpose  had  largely  vanished.  His 
generous  attitude  in  defending  the  Jews  of  Minsk 
against  Uwaroflf's  displeasure  because  of  their  un- 
friendly reception  of  himself  on  the  occasion  of  his 
first  visit  gained  the  sympathy  of  many  for  the  cause 
which  he  represented.    His  success  in  gaining  the  con- 

Emeth,  his  later  statements  must  be  considered  in  the  light 
of  a  retraction  of  the  Maggid  Emeth,  involving  thus  a  clear- 
ing of  Lilienthal  from  the  charges  there  made. 

31 


MAX  ULIT;NTIIAL. 

sent  of  Rabbi  Isaac  ben  Hayyim,  the  head  of  the 
Ycshibah  at  Voloshin,  to  serve  as  one  of  the  four 
members  of  the  commission  that  was  to  meet  in  St. 
Petersburg  to  work  out  the  plan  for  the  schools,  was 
of  incalculable  aid  to  him.  No  Jew  in  all  Russia 
was  held  in  higher  esteem  by  his  coreligionists  than 
was  the  learned  head  of  this  great  academy  of  Volo- 
shin that  numbered  its  students  by  the  hundreds. 
Rabbi  Isaac  or  Reb  Itzele,  as  he  was  familiarly  called, 
represented  the  finest  type  of  the  Talmudical  scholar; 
he  was  a  truly  wise  man  endowed  with  breadth  of 
vision,  and  gifted  with  the  traits  of  the  real  leader. 
Lilienthal's  description  of  his  interview  with  this  fine 
example  of  a  fast-vanishing  type  forms  one  of  the 
most  interesting  chapters  in  his  fascinating  account  of 
his  travels. -- 

He  had  been  accompanied  to  Voloshin  by  represent- 
atives of  the  Jewish  communities  of  Vilna  and  Minsk. 
When  these  men  witnessed  the  kindly  reception  of 
Lilienthal  by  the  man  whom  they  held  in  reverence 
above  all  others,  they  became  enthusiastic  supporters 
of  the  cause  which  Lilienthal  was  advocating.  Not- 
ably did  the  effect  of  Rabbi  Isaac's  support  appear  in 
the  changed  attitude  of  the  community  of  Minsk.  But 
little  more  than  six  months  previously  the  "Datschel" , 
as  he  was  contemptuously  termed,  had  left  Minsk  in 
disgrace  and  utterly  discredited.  Now  all  was  altered. 
The  leading  men  of  the  community  declared  in  favor 
of  his  plans.  Sympathy  and  respect  were  shown  him 
on  all  hands  where  formerly  he  had  met  with  distrust 
and  aversion.  The  Russian  Jews  had  become  convinced 
that  he  was  not  a  governmental  agent  using  the  plea 

"^  Infra,  My  Travels  in  Russia,  p.  344  ff. 

32 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

for  educational  reform  as  a  cloak  for  the  conversion 
of  their  children  to  Christianity  as  his  unscrupulous 
enemies  had  declared,"^  but  a  true  Jew,  fired  with  a 
noble  purpose.  Even  the  Chassidim,  most  fanatical  of 
all  his  opponents,  were  won  over  in  so  far  as  one  of 
their  most  renowned  leaders,  Mendel  Schneersohn  of 
Lubowitz,  consented  to  serve  as  one  of  the  four  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  that  was  to  meet  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

Wherever  he  went  he  was  greeted  as  a  great  leader ; 
his  eloquence  and  sincerity  carried  all  before  him ;  he 
was  hailed  as  a  brilliant  star  that  was  shedding  light 
upon  the  communities  of  Israel.  The  people  acclaimed 
him  as  a  deliverer  and  his  words  were  received  joy- 
fully as  the  prophecy  of  a  better  and  brighter  future. 
A  letter  from  the  representatives  of  the  Jewish  com- 
munity of  Berdichef  to  his  father  may  well  be  in- 
serted here  to  indicate  the  enthusiasm  that  was  aroused 
by  this  brilliant,  youthful  leader.     The  letter  reads: 

Most  respected  Sir: 

Voices  of  joy  resound  in  Israel  and  one  ques- 
tion is  being  asked  throughout  Russia's  immeas- 
urable domain :  "Whose  son  is  this  hero,  this 
mighty  one  who  has  set  forth  armed  for  the 
strife,  announcing  help  to  his  oppressed  people, 
so  that  its  horn  of  happiness  may  be  exalted  once 
again  and  its  rights  be  assured  in  the  eyes  of  its 
rightful  ruler?  Whose  son  indeed  is  this  man, 
who  puts  forth  his  good  right  arm  in  order  to 
raise  Israel  from  his  despised  state  and  who  left 

"  Infra,  My  Travels  in  Russia,  p.  323.  See  also  Orient, 
1844,  p.  460. 


33 


MAX  IvIUlCNTHAL,. 

his  fatherland,  his  birthplace  and  his  father's 
house  to  shine  in  Israel?  Whose  son  indeed  may 
he  be  whom  the  high  and  exalted  government 
received  with  marks  of  respect  and  who  alone  was 
found  worthy  to  accomplish  the  great  work?" 
It  is  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal,  the  learned  and  esteemed 
teacher  who  left  behind  him  everything  that  was 
dear  and  precious  and  journeyed  to  a  strange 
land  to  aid  his  dispersed  brethren.  The  eyes  of 
every  true  believer  in  Israel  shed  tears  of  joy  and 
every  heart  is  deeply  moved  at  the  sight  of  this 
young  hero  taking  upon  himself  thus  early  in  life 
the  yoke  of  his  people  with  such  divine  courage. 

We,  also,  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  and 
populous  city  of  Berdichef,  were  greatly  honored 
by  the  presence  of  this  highly  respected  man  in 
our  midst.  This  brilliant  star  that  illumines 
Israel's  gloomy  dwelling  places  shone  also  upon 
us.  This  happiness,  never  before  experienced  by 
us,  was  heightened  by  the  pleasant  and  glowing 
notices  of  his  great  and  effective  deeds  in  behalf 
of  his  coreligionists. 

Therefore,  we,  the  representatives  of  the  local 
Jewish  community,  feel  called  upon  to  offer  our 
reverential  greeting  and  our  deepest  homage  to 
you,  the  happiest  of  fathers,  who  have  reared  such 
noble  shoots  of  love  and  glory  for  the  vineyard 
of  the  Lord  that  flourishes  as  a  mighty  defense 
and  protection  for  all  Israel.  May  eternal  happi- 
ness and  lasting  blessing  accrue  to  you  through 
this  most  noble  son,  whose  sacred  efforts  for  our 
highest  good  will  never  be  forgotten  even  in  the 
latest  days.  Time  will  never  efface  his  immortal 
name,  for  even  our  grandchildren  will  think  of 

34 


the;  RUSSIAN  carejer. 

it  with  holy  awe  and  keep  it  in  eternal  recollec- 
tion ;  thus  will  the  great  and  imperishable  name 
of  the  high-souled  hero,  Lilienthal,  be  added  to 
those  noble  champions  of  yore  who  gladly  sacri- 
ficed wealth  and  life  for  the  Jews  and  Israel,  and 
be  ever  revered  as  are  they. 

Yet  how  can  we  approach  you,  most  respected 
sir?  For  truly  our  lips  are  struck  dumb  because 
of  our  overpowering  joy  of  soul,  and  our  tongues 
are  powerless  to  indicate  in  even  weak  accents 
our  deeply  felt  emotions ;  still  we  beg  you  to  ac- 
cept our  most  heartfelt  thanks  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  and  in  the  name  of  the  entire  Jewish  com- 
munity. May  our  merciful  Father  continue  to 
favor  you  with  his  unending  blessings  for  a  long 
time  to  come ;  may  He  protect  you  and  strengthen 
your  precious  life  with  youthful  vigor  and  permit 
you  to  enjoy  undisturbed  the  purest  joys  of  the 
soul,  so  that  in  a  time  far  ofif  grandchildren  may 
surround  you  who  will  devote  their  life  to  the 
weal  of  Israel  like  unto  your  great  son,  this  ex- 
alted prototype.  Accept,  we  pray  you,  O  worthy 
father  of  the  most  worthy  son,  these  weak  words 
from  distant  lands  as  the  surest  sign  of  our  deep 
respect  for  you,  inasmuch  as  we  indulge  the  hope 
that  we  may  be  able  to  attest  even  more  fully  our 
homage  and  our  veneration  in  the  future. 

The  Representatives  of  the  Israelitsch 
community  of  Berdichef. 

The  fifteenth  day  of  Cheshwan  of  the  year  5603.^* 

Extravagant  though  this  letter  sounds,  it  is  yet  a 

true  reflex  of  the  sentiments  aroused  among  thousands 

** Allgemeine  Zeitung  dcs  Judcnthums,  VI,  pp.  715-6. 

35 


MAX  UUFvNTHAL. 

of  Russian  Jews  of  those  days  whose  hearts  beat  high 
with  hopes  of  the  improvement  that  the  coming  years 
would  bring  through  the  instrumentaUty  of  Lilienthal's 
work. 

Greatly  encouraged  by  the  enthusiastic  reception 
which  he  had  met  with  everywhere,  Lilienthal  returned 
to  St.  Petersburg  to  give  report  to  Uwarofif  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  journey.  Besides  Rabbi  Isaac,  the  head  of 
the  Voloshin  Yeshihah,  and  Mendel  Schneersohn,  the 
Chassidaic  leader,  the  Jews  had  chosen  as  members 
of  the  commission  of  four  that  was  to  elaborate  the 
plan,  Israel  Heilprin,  a  banker  of  Berdichef,  and 
Basilius  (Bezalel)  Stern,  the  director  of  the  Jewish 
school  at  Odessa.  This  commission  was  representa- 
tive indeed,  as  these  four  men  stood  for  the  different 
tendencies  among  Russia's  Jews,  the  rabbinical,  the 
Chassidaic  and  the  modern.  Lilienthal  himself  was 
commissioned  by  the  government  to  participate  in  the 
deliberations. 

In  order  to  convince  the  Jews  further  through  the 
personnel  of  the  commission  that  the  government  was 
acting  in  good  faith,  Lilienthal  induced  Uwaroff  to 
permit  him  to  invite  the  two  best-known  Jews  in  the 
world,  Moses  Montefiore  of  London,  and  Adolphe 
Cremieux  of  Paris,  to  become  members  of  the  com- 
mission. Lilienthal  wrote  to  both.  His  letter  to 
Montefiore  was  submitted  to  Uwaroff  for  his  approval 
and  was  stamped  with  the  official  seal.  This  may 
explain  why,  in  his  gloomy  description  of  the  moral 
status  of  the  Russian  Jews,  Lilienthal  blames  the  Jews 
themselves  for  this.  Lilienthal  knew  at  this  time  how 
hopeless  the  legal  position  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  was. 
Those  portions  of  the  letter  deserve  especial  attention 
in  which  Lilienthal  informs  Montefiore  that  the  gov- 

36 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREER. 

ernment  has  the  intention  of  improving  the  political 
situation  of  the  Jews.  This  did  not  take  place.  The 
political  situation  of  the  Jews  proceeded  from  bad  to , 
worse.  Montefiore  returned  a  very  guarded  answer ; 
he  may  have  felt  that  Lilienthal  had  been  unable  to 
tell  him  the  whole  truth;  he  bade  him  give  him  fur- 
ther particulars  about  the  plan  of  the  work  so  that  he 
might  decide  whether  he  could  be  of  any  assistance  in 
the  work  of  school  reform.-^ 

Lilienthal  must  have  had  some  private  correspond- 
ence with  Montefiore,  for  two  months  later  a  letter 
was  received  from  Montefiore's  secretary,  Dr.  L,. 
Loewe,  to  the  effect  that  Montefiore  was  ready  to 
come  to  Russia  that  winter  to  take  part  in  the  work  of 
the  commission ;  he  made  the  condition,  however,  that 
the  invitation  of  the  ministry  must  come  to  him 
through  tjie  Russian  embassy  in  London.  Loewe's 
letter  remained  unanswered. 

Cremieux  declared  his  willingness  to  come  if  he 
would  be  invited  in  the  name  of  the  czar.^^  This  was 
not  done,  and  neither  of  these  illustrious  men  sat  with 
the  commission  as  Lilienthal  had  hoped  would  be  the 
case. 

The  commission  began  its  meetings  in  St.  Peters- 
burg in  April,  1843,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Education,  and  continued  in  ses- 
sion until  August.  Naturally  there  had  to  be  much 
give  and  take.  It  had  been  hoped  that  a  complete 
understanding  would  be  reached,  but  this  did  not 
prove  to  be  the  case.     The  men  forming  the  commis- 

^  Hessen,  Die  Russische  Regierung  und  die  Westeuro- 
pdischen  Juden,  p.  33.  Montefiore's  letter  is  published  in 
Perejitoe,  I,   Appendix,  p.  27-28    (St.   Petersburg,   1908). 

^Ibid,  28-29. 

37 


MAX  LIUICNTHAL. 

sion  were  far  apart  in  their  views.  The  discussions 
were  heated.  Rabbi  Isaac  and  the  Chassidaic  leader, 
Mendel  Schneersohn,  were  not  in  sympathy.  Stern 
and  Lilienthal  indulged  in  vigorous  debates.  Still,  in 
the  end,  all  the  members  of  the  commission  signed  the 
report  embodying  the  desires  of  the  government  as  to 
the  establishment  of  schools  of  the  character  of  those 
already  existing  in  Riga  and  Odessa.  The  commis- 
sion also  placed  its  approval  upon  the  books  to  be  used 
in  the  schools,  a  list  of  which  had  been  submitted  to 
them. 

The  edict  for  the  establishment  of  these  schools 
was  issued  on  November  13,  1844.  This  edict  com- 
manded that  elementary  and  high  schools,  or,  as  they 
were  called,  schools  of  the  first  and  second  class,  were 
to  be  opened  for  Jewish  children  and  the  Jewish  youth, 
and  also  that  two  seminaries  for  the  education  of 
rabbis  and  teachers  were  to  be  founded  at  Vilna  and 
Zhitomir.  A  special  tax  was  to  be  instituted  for  the 
support  of  these  institutions,  namely,  the  light  tax ; 
further,  the  profits  of  the  two  Jewish  printing  monop- 
olies were  to  be  applied  to  the  upkeep  of  the  two 
academies.  This  edict  was  prefaced  by  an  address  to 
the  czar  by  Uwaroff,  the  Minister  of  Education.  In 
the  address  he  called  attention  to  the  measures  taken 
by  other  governments  for  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  Jews  and  urged  that  the  time  had  now 
come  for  Russia  to  act  in  a  similar  manner.  The  best 
method  to  achieve  this  result  lay  in  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  education  for  the  Jews  which  should  be 
accommodated  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Jewish  situa- 
tion and  fitted  to  the  Jewish  religious  views. 

This  last  expression  makes  clear  how  successful 
Lilienthal  had  been  in  convincing  Uwaroff  of  the  prime 

38 


The  RUSSIAN  care;er. 

necessity  of  assuring  the  Jews  that  this  educational 
reform  was  not  a  proselytizing  scheme.  Being  satis- 
fied on  this  score,  the  edict  received  the  approval  of 
many  Jews,  notably  as  it  was  based  upon  the  report 
signed  by  the  four  men  who  had  the  confidence  of 
their  coreligionists  throughout  the  realm.  This  ap- 
proval went  so  far  that  the  idea  was  entertained  to 
commission  the  famous  Jewish  artist,  M.  Oppenheim 
of  Frankfort,  to  paint  a  great  historical  picture  that 
was  to  be  a  symbolical  representation  of  the  rise  of 
the  new  era  in  Russian  Jewry.  This  painting  was 
to  be  presented  to  the  emperor  as  a  token  of  appre- 
ciation and  gratitude. 

However,  the  long  time  that  had  elapsed  between  the 
first  correspondence  entered  into  by  Lilienthal  in  the 
spring  of  1842  with  German  Jewish  leaders  asking 
their  cooperation  and  the  date  of  the  issuance  of  the 
edict  in  November,  1844,  had  dampened  the  enthu- 
siasm aroused  in  Germany.  In  fact,  it  was  thought 
in  Germany  that  the  plan  had  been  abandoned  and 
Lilienthal  felt  compelled  to  write  letters  in  which  he 
explained  that  such  matters  proceed  very  slowly  in 
Russia;  he  begged  his  German  friends  to  have  pa- 
tience. When  finally  the  schools  were  opened,  LiHen- 
thal's  plan  to  have  the  schools  manned  by  German 
teachers,  which  had  been  approved  by  Uwaroff,  was 
repudiated  by  the  government  even  though  as  many 
as  two  hundred  German  Jewish  teachers  had  signified 
their  willingness  to  come  to  Russia  to  help  along  this 
work.  Such  a  procedure  ill  comported  with  the  czar's 
program  of  russification.  Instead  of  importing  Ger- 
man teachers,  it  was  decided  to  follow  the  plan  of  the 
Russian  schools,  patterning  the  elementary  schools 
after  the  parochial  schools,  the  higher  schools  after 

39 


MAX  LIUENTHAI,. 

the  district  schools  and  the  rabbinical  seminaries  after 
the  seminaries  of  the  Greek  Church. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  faith  was  not  kept 
with  Lilienthal.  Despite  the  assurances  of  Uwaroff 
and  other  high  officials  that  there  was  no  desire  to 
convert  the  Jews  b}'^  the  establishment  of  these  schools, 
it  appeared  in  the  sequel  that  these  assurances  were 
not  sincere.  Uwaroff's  first  plans  for  the  education 
of  the  Jews  were  kept  secret  and  were  not  published 
for  some  time ;  they  were  unknown  to  Lilienthal.  In 
this  document  Uwaroff  stated  that  instruction  in  the 
specific  Jewish  branches  must  be  minimized  so  that 
the  present  Jewish  educational  methods  might  be  dis- 
placed by  instruction  in  the  catechism;  instruction  in 
the  Talmud  was  to  be  only  a  pretense  and  the  religious 
and  philosophical  Jewish  commentaries  were  to  be 
dropped  at  the  first  opportunity.^*^ 

It  may  be  that  because  of  his  contact  with  Lilienthal 
Uwaroff  may  have  changed  his  ideas  as  expressed  in 
this  original  plan  and  have  been  sincere  in  the  assur- 
ances he  gave  that  there  was  no  desire  to  proselytize. 
This  may  account  for  the  fact  that  the  edict  of  No- 
vember, 1844,  was  scarcely  promulgated  ere  Uwaroff 
was  relieved  of  his  office  and  the  carrying  out  of  the 
plan  was  committed  to  other  men  who  had  had  no 
share  in  the  initial  work.  These  men  had  no  appre- 
ciation of  the  situation.  When  the  schools  were  finally 
jestablished,  Christians  were  made  inspectors.  These 
inspectors  had  no  conception  of  the  delicacy  and  seri- 
ousness of  the  task.  They  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
work  as  far  as  it  was  in  the  interest  of  the  Jews. 
True,  the  teachers  of  the  Jewish  branches  were  Jews. 

""  Scheinhaus,  Ein  deutscher  Pioneer,  Allgemeine  Zei- 
tung  des  Judenthums,  1911,  p.  439. 

40 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREER. 

Many  of  these  were  incompetent.  Such  as  were  cap- 
able had  constant  difficulties  on  the  one  hand  with  the 
Christian  inspectors  and  on  the  other  hand  with  the 
Melammedim  or  old-style  Jewish  teachers  whose  occu- 
pation was  seriously  interfered  with  by  the  estabHsh- 
ment  of  these  schools. 

The  government,  too,  was  greatly  at  fault.  It  was 
imagined  that  the  Jews  would  be  entirely  satisfied  if 
these  schools  were  called  Jewish  schools,  if  they  would 
be  closed  on  the  Sabbath  and  the  holy  days,  and  the 
Jewish  ceremonies  would  be  observed.  However,  the 
only  Jewish  instruction  was  the  teaching  of  selected 
portions  of  the  Pentateuch  with  German  translation; 
the  other  portions  of  the  Bible  were  neglected;  the 
ritual  lawa-were  not  taught;  the  prayers  were  not 
explained;  the  Talmud  was  .excluded  altogether; 
there  was  no  instruction  in  the  religion  or  history  of 
the  Jews.  The  Jewish  spirit,  too,  was  lacking  in  the 
school  administration.  All  this  Lilienthal  had  pro- 
vided for  in  his  plan  to  inaugurate  the  work  with  a 
large  number  of  competent,  learned  and  scholarly  men 
who  had  been  trained  in  modern  methods  in  Germany. 
This  understanding  with  Uwaroff  was  repudiated  by 
the  new  minister  of  education  and  his  appointees  who 
administered  this  new  work. 

Further,  several  new  edicts  against  the  Jews  were 
issued  during  this  period,  notably  the  dread  ukase  by 
which  Nicholas  I  delimited  the  dwelling  places  of  the 
Jews  to  within  fifty  versts  of  the  frontier,  the  source 
of  untold  suffering  and  inhuman  repression.  The 
leopard  had  not  changed  his  spots  despite  the  seeming 
good  will  expressed  in  the  documents  concerned  with 
the  government's  educational  plans  for  the  Jews. 

Little  wonder  then  that  the  Jews  had  their  sus- 

41 


MAX   ULIENTHAL. 

picions  reawakened  as  to  the  sincerity  of  the  govern- 
ment's professions.  Little  wonder,  too,  that  LiUen- 
thal  gradually  awakened  to  the  fact  that  the  govern- 
ment's pretended  interest  in  the  Jews  was  hypocritical. 
The  great  work  for  the  welfare  of  his  coreligionists  on 
which  he  had  embarked  with  such  high  hopes  and 
such  glowing  enthusiasm  had  fallen  far  short  of  his 
expectations.  Still  he  was  willing  to  remain  in  Russia 
and  to  work  for  and  with  his  coreligionists.  He  had 
been  elected  preacher  of  the  great  congregation  in 
Odessa,  a  post,  however,  which  he  did  not  enter  upon. 

In  December,  1844,  he  had  written  his  fiancee  to 
make  ready  for  their  marriage  in  the  following  May. 
In  this  letter  he  advised  her  to  provide  herself  with 
heavy  furs  required  by  the  rigors  of  the  Russian  cli- 
mate. It  was  evidently  his  intention  to  bring  his  bride 
to  Russia.  What  was  it  then  that  made  him  decide 
to  go  to  America  instead  of  returning  to  Russia  after 
his  marriage  as  was  surely  his  intention  at  the  time 
this  letter  was  written  ? 

In  a  recent  book  on  Lilienthal's  work  in  Russia,  it 
is  stated  that  the  reason  that  impelled  him  to  leave  the 
country  suddenly  was  that  he  was  approached  with 
the  proposal  that  he  become  a  convert  to  the  Greek 
Catholic  Church.-^  If  this  be  true,  as  is  possible,  one 
can  well  imagine  the  indignation  with  which  the  sug- 
gestion was  received.  That  some  such  impression  was 
abroad  at  the  time  appears  from  a  contemporary  state- 
ment. In  a  communication  from  Koenigsberg  on  the 
situation  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  in  the  Deutsche  Allge- 
meine  Zeitung  of  December  31,  1845,  the  writer  says: 
"Dr.  Lilienthal  himself,  who  sojourned  in  St.  Peters- 

"  Hessen,  Die  Russische  Regierung  und  die  Westeuro- 
pdischen  Judcn,  p.  H. 

42 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAREER. 

burg  for  a  number  of  years  with  the  purpose  of  promul- 
gating foreign  culture  in  Russia,  was  compelled  to 
emigrate  to  America,  when  he  recognized  finally  that 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  achieve  any  real  results 
for  the  improvement  of  the  lot  of  his  coreligionists 
owing  to  the  repressive  laws  of  the  country  and  when 
the  attempt  was  made  to  persuade  him  himself  to 
become  converted  to  the  state  church".-*  A  state- 
ment in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Dr. 
Ludwig  Philippson,  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the 
United  States,  seems  to  bear  out  this  report ;  the  open- 
ing paragraph  of  that  communication,  dated  December 
31,  1845,  reads:  "The  Lord,  to  whom  I  sacrificed  my 
position  in  Russia,  for  whose  holy  name  I  surrendered 
livelihood,  honors  and  a  life  position.  He,  the  Father 
of  all,  to  whom  I  entrusted  my  fate,  and  who  forsakes 
none  who  trust  in  Him,  has  helped  me  in  His  mercy 
and  has  given  me  a  second  great  sphere  of  activity".-^ 
A  writer  in  the  Jewish  periodical,  the  Orient,  had 
for  years  pursued  Lilienthal  with  bitter  diatribes  and 
base  insinuations,  among  them  being  the  outrageous 
charge  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  promulgation 
of  the  anti-Jewish  ukase,  inasmuch  as  he  did  not 
really  sympathize  with  the  Russian  Jews,  but  was  more 
or  less  an  agent  of  the  government.  These  statements 
led  Philippson  to  affix  the  following  editorial  comment 
to  I jlienthal's  statement  quoted  above :  "We  can  not 
refrain  from  calling  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the 
fact  that  this  letter  is  a  complete  reply  to  the  shame- 
less invectives  which  a  Jewish  newspaper  has  directed 
for  years  at  Dr.  Lilienthal.     Would  that  the  oppor- 

*'  Article    reproduced    in    Allgemeine    Zeitung    des   Juden- 
ihums,  X,  p.  56. 
="  Ibid,  p.  98. 

43 


MAX   LIUENTIIAL. 

tunity  were  always  at  hand  to  prove  the  groundlessness 
of  similar  slanders  in  so  short  and  so  complete  a 
manner !" 

I  have  found  but  one  more  statement  by  Lilienthal 
himself  referring  to  the  reason  for  his  leaving  Russia. 
In  this  statement  he  says  nothing  whatsoever  about 
any  conversionist  attempt.  In  an  article  written  many 
years  later  entitled,  "The  Russian  Government  and 
the  Jews — My  Personal  Experiences",  he  refers  to 
the  terrible  ukase  of  Nicholas  I,  issued  in  April,  1843, 
which  decreed  that  no  Jews  even  in  the  Pale  of  Settle- 
ment could  live  within  fifty  versts  of  the  frontier  and 
that  all  Jews  within  that  territory  must  leave  their 
homes  and  settle  in  the  cities  within  the  Pale.  When 
this  ukase  was  issued  the  Commission  on  Jewish  Edu- 
cation was  sitting  in  St.  Petersburg.  All  efforts  were 
put  forth  to  have  the  ukase  revoked.  The  Council  of 
Ministers  petitioned  the  emperor  unanimously  to  do 
so.  Continuing  Lilienthal  writes :  "Count  Kankrin 
sent  for  me  on  the  evening  after  this  meeting  and  with 
a  face  radiant  with  joy,  informed  me  of  the  good  news 
and  the  noble  action  of  the  council.  I  communicated 
it  at  once  to  the  Israelites,  then  staying  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  there  was  a  rejoicing  as  if  a  second  Purim 
had  been  instituted. 

"But  a  few  days  afterwards  I  received  a  note  from 
Councilor  Wrontshenko  to  call  on  him  at  once,  and 
when  I  entered  his  room,  with  a  downcast  air  he  told 
me  that  the  emperor  had  rejected  the  petition  of  the 
council,  and  that  all  hope  for  a  repeal  was  gone.  I 
then  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  the  imperial  service 
and  in  July,  1845,  I  left  St.  Petersburg  for  the  shores 
of  the  land  of  human  right  and  liberty."^" 

'"Jewish  Times   (New  York,  January  28,  1870). 

44 


THE  RUSSIAN   CAREER. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  immediate  reason  for 
his  departure  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  had  be- 
come convinced  of  the  insincerity  of  the  Russian  gov- 
ernment in  the  matter  of  the  welfare  of  the  Jews. 
True,  the  educational  system  for  the  introduction  of 
which  he  had  labored  with  might  and  main  was  estab- 
lished after  a  fashion,  but,  oh,  so  differently  from  what 
he  had  intended.  His  bright  dreams  for  a  real  re- 
naissance among  Russian  Jews  vanished  into  thin  air. 
Thoroughly  disheartened  and  discouraged  he  left  Rus- 
sia for  America.  His  career  that  had  dawned  so  bril- 
liantly seemed  to  have  set  in  darkness.  But  he  was 
not  quite  thirty  years  old.  Although  he  felt  it  not,  life 
was  still  all  before  him. 


45 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST  YEARS  IN   AMERICA. 

Heartsick  and  disappointed,  Lilienthal  left  Russia 
in  July,  1845,  for  Munich.  The  five  years  of  his  life 
that  he  had  devoted  to  the  cause  of  bettering  the  lot 
of  his  brethren  in  Russia  had  been  apparently  wasted. 
He  had  believed  in  the  sincerity  of  the  czar  and  of 
Uwaroff.  He  could  not  conceive  at  the  time  that  this 
whole  plan  of  Jewish  education  was  merely  a  prosely- 
tizing scheme  and  that  it  had  been  approved  by  the 
czar  with  the  thought  that  ultimately  it  would  bring 
the  Jews  into  tlie  arms  of  the  church.  Although  the 
plans  were  slow  in  maturing,  Lilienthal  considered 
this  incidental  to  the  gradual  perfecting  of  the  work 
at  which  he  had  labored  so  whole-heartedly  with  the 
apparent  approval  of  Uwaroff  and  his  imperial  master. 
As  late  as  December,  1844,^  he  wrote  to  his  fiancee  of 
his  purpose  of  bringing  her  back  with  him  to  Russia 
after  their  marriage.  "I  will  take  the  first  steamer 
for  Stettin",  he  wrote,  "thence  to  Berlin,  by  train  to 
Leipzig  and  from  there  to  Munich.  My  sojourn  there 
will  be  about  three  weeks.  My  service  here  will  not 
permit  me  to  remain  longer  unless  I  receive  instruc- 
tions from  the  Crown  which  may  lengthen  my  stay 
in  Berlin."  He  also  speaks  of  the  governmental  ap- 
pointment that  he  had  received  which  undoubtedly 
made  him  feel  that  his  future  life  was  to  be  spent  in 
Russia.     But  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter, 

*  Supra,  p.  42. 

46 


DR.  MAX  LILIENTHAL 

(Aet.  40) 


FIRST    YEARS    IN    AMERICA. 

this  was  not  to  be.  It  is  probable  that  after  this  letter 
was  written,  the  infamous  proposal  was  made  to  him 
to  become  a  convert  to  the  church.  At  any  rate,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  cause,  he  left  Russia  never  to 
return.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Munich  he  mar- 
ried the  remarkable  girl  to  whom  he  had  been  betrothed 
ten  years.  From  all  accounts  Pepi  Nettre  was  of 
singular  charm — a  woman  of  great  culture  and  in- 
telligence. In  his  Reminiscences  Isaac  M.  Wise,  who, 
upon  his  arrival  in  New  York  in  1846,  was  welcomed 
heartily  in  the  home  of  Dr.  Lilienthal,  speaks  of  her 
as  a  woman  "whom  I  had  frequent  opportunity  of 
admiring  as  the  most  lovable  and  amiable  of  wives 
and  mothers  ;  she  who  surpassed  even  Munich's  daugh- 
ters in  charm ;  who  with  clear  insight  penetrated  into 
the  very  heart  of  conditions  and  persons  and  cast  a 
glamour  of  love  on  all  about  her".- 

Lilienthal  had  expected  to  place  his  wife  who  had 
waited  for  him  all  these  years  in  a  brilliant  position. 
Now,  however,  he  was  without  prospects.  The  Rus- 
sian career  was  definitely  closed.  A  German  rabbinical 
post,  even  if  one  had  ofifered  itself,  had  no  attractions 
for  him.  The  new  world,  the  land  of  freedom  and 
opportunity,  beckoned  to  him.  Thither  several  mem- 
bers of  the  family  had  already  emigrated,  his  sister 
Sophie  and  her  husband.  Dr.  John  Lehmeier,  and  his 
brother  Samuel,  who  had  married  Caroline  Nettre,  the 
sister  of  Pepi.  Even  while  in  Russia,  Lilienthal  had 
written  strikingly  about  the  possibilities  of  America 
for  the  Jews.  In  a  letter  to  Isaac  Nettre,  his  future 
father-in-law,  of  the  date  of  July  5,  1843,  he  had  ad- 
vised that  he  send  his  young  son  Philip  to  America, 

^Reminiscences,  by  Isaac  M.  Wise,  p.  20  (Cincinnati,  1901). 

47 


MAX    LIUENTHAL. 

because  the  young  man  who  contemplated  the  practice 
of  law  would  find  opportunities  such  as  were  un- 
dreamed of  in  France  or  Germany.  "Now  that  Ger- 
mans of  high  character  are  gaining  an  upper  hand  in 
the  North  American  free  states.  .  .  .  now  that  the 
western  colonies  or  states  are  making  such  rapid 
strides  forward,  a  future  of  industrial  and  commercial 
activity  is  to  be  looked  for,  such  as  is  not  likely  in 
Germany  and  in  Europe  where  narrow-minded  ma- 
terialism is  on  the  increase.  ...  I  hope  nothing 
for  the  Jews  in  Europe — everything  in  America". 

These  being  his  sentiments,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
he  determined  to  seek  a  new  career  in  this  land  of 
promise.  He  arrived  in  New  York  in  November, 
1845,  shortly  after  he  had  attained  his  thirtieth  year. 
Though  so  young  he  was  one  of  the  best-known  Jew- 
ish leaders  in  the  world.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  with  a  great  reputation.  Hjs  career  in  Russia 
had  made  him  a  man  of  mark.  The  impression  he 
created  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  used  by 
Isaac  Leeser,  the  most  prominent  Jewish  minister  in 
the  United  States  at  that  time,  after  hearing  an  ad- 
dress by  Lilienthal.  Leeser  speaks  of  this  address  as 
"one  of  the  best  orations  we  ever  listened  to.  It  was 
the  first  time  we  ever  heard  him  address  an  audience 
in  his  native  tongue,  the  elegant  and  flexible  language 
of  Germany,  and  we  can  freely  say  that  he  fully  con- 
firmed to  our  mind  the  reputation  which  induced  the 
community  at  Riga  in  Russia  to  send  for  him  as  their 
preacher,  and  also  justified  UwarofiF,  the  minister  of 
education  to  Nicholas,  to  consult  with  him  on  Jewish 
affairs".^ 

'  Occident.  VII,  515. 

48 


FIRST    YEARS    IN    AMERICA. 

In  appearance  Lilienthal  was  every  inch  the  leader ; 
he  was  tall  and  stately  and  his  demeanor  gave  evi- 
dence of  the  courtly  surroundings  in  which  he  had 
moved  for  years.  A  man  of  culture  and  force,  he 
soon  began  to  make  his  influence  felt  in  his  new  home. 
Leaders  in  Jewry  were  few  in  the  United  States  in 
those  days.  Although  there  were  not  many  congre- 
gations, still  there  were  fewer  rabbis.  Religious  af- 
fairs were  in  a  chaotic  condition,  as  appears  from  the 
vivid  description  penned  by  the  life-long  friend  and 
coworker  of  Lilienthal.* 

Despite  the  unpromising  state  of  affairs  in  Jewish 
congregational  life,  Lilienthal  indulged  the  greatest 
hopes  for  the  Jew  and  Judaism  in  the  United  States 
from  the  very  moment  that  he  stepped  foot  upon  these 
shores.  One  of  the  dominating  features  of  his  activ- 
ity was  his  love  of  America,  as  the  home  of  religious 
liberty  and  the  land  of  freedom.  He  was  intense  in 
this  and  time  and  again  in  spoken  address  and  written 
word  he  eulogized  the  American  spirit.  This  was  due 
possibly  to  his  Russian  career.  The  contrast  in  his 
own  experience  between  Russian  despotism  and  Amer- 
ican liberty  was  so  great  that  it  could  not  but  color  all 
his  thoughts  and  acts.  He  appreciated  to  the  full  all 
that  America  represented  for  humanity.  The  first 
recorded  words  that  he  wrote  from  the  United  States 
indicate  this  clearly  and  sound  the  first  clear  note  in 
that  hymn  of  praise  of  America  which  he  continued  in- 
toning to  the  very  end  of  his  life.  In  a  letter  written 
to  his  friend  Ludwig  Philippson  very  shortly  after  his 
arrival  he  says :  "My  fraternal  and  friendly  greetings 
from  New  York,  from  the  blessed  land  of  freedom, 

*  Isaac  M.  Wise,  Reminiscences,  20  ff. 
49 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

the  beautiful  soil  of  civic  equality!  Old  Europe  with 
its  restrictions  lies  behind  me  like  a  dream ;  the  mem- 
ory of  the  repellant  Judaeophobia  of  Russia  is  like 
a  distant  mirage;  the  frightful  images  of  oppression 
and  persecution  are  distant  from  the  harried  soul — I 
breathe  freely  once  more,  my  spirit  unfolds  its  pinions 
and  I  would  waft  exultingly  the  heartiest  kiss  of 
brotherhood  to  all  men  who  find  here  the  bond  of 
union!  .  .  .  Oh,  it  is  necessary  that  you  breathe 
this  free  air  of  Columbia  in  order  that  you  may  be 
able  to  understand  the  pride  and  joy  of  her  children ; 
you  must  have  shaken  off  the  centuried  dust  of  the 
old  Jewish  oppression  in  order  to  appreciate  to  the 
full  the  feeling  'I  am  a  man  like  every  other' ;  you 
must  see  here  our  Jewish  brethren,  the  persecuted 
emigrants  of  persecuting  Europe,  in  order  to  become 
convinced  how  worthily  the  Jew  cooperates  with  his 
Christian  brethren  here.     .     .     . 

"Here  nothing  is  known  of  the  puppet  play  of  na- 
tionalism which  divides  men  and  confines  them  with- 
in the  narrow  lines  of  self-interest;  the  name  of  this 
country  is  union  of  the  states  and  its  motto  is  union 
of  all  forces  for  a  great  end,  the  respect  of  the  rights 
of  each  in  the  great  brotherhood.  Here  nothing  is 
known  of  the  idea  of  a  Christian  state  which  after 
creating  pariahs,  brands  them  as  pariahs ;  here  men 
are  known  only  as  men,  who  respect  one  another  in 
liberty  and  equality  and  work  together  for  the  com- 
mon weal."^ 

Life  had  a  new  interest  for  him.  What  though  his 
efforts  in  Russia  had  spelt  failure  owing  to  the  re- 
ligious bigotry  of  Nicholas,  here  was  a  prospect  for 

^  Allgenieine  Zcifung  des  Judcnthums,  X,  18-20. 

50 


First  years  in  America. 

work  equally  important  and  promising,  to  be  a  leading 
influence  in  shaping  the  future  of  Judaism  in  a  great 
land,  where  the  Jew  had  opportunities  such  as  he  had 
never  known  since  the  ancient  days.  Such  an  outlook 
for  usefulness  might  well  stir  the  blood  of  the  young, 
but  experienced,  leader  who  had  now  appeared  in 
American  Jewish  life.  He  had  gained  much  knowl- 
edge of  life  and  of  men  in  his  career  among  the  diplo- 
mats of  Russia  and  in  the  Jewish  communities  there; 
he  was  gifted  with  eloquence  of  tongue  and  with  the 
power  of  presenting  his  thoughts  in  a  manner  at- 
tractive and  convincing.  He  was  ready  to  work  for 
his  brethren  and  to  devote  his  great  powers  to  the 
cause  of  his  faith.  He  had  scarcely  appeared  in  New 
York  ere  the  opportunity  became  his  to  enter  actively 
into  the  life  for  which  he  had  fitted  himself.  There 
were  four  German  Jewish  congregations  in  the  city, 
only  one  of  which  was  ministered  to  by  a  rabbi,  namely, 
the  Emanuel  congregation  of  which  Dr.  Leo  Merz- 
bacher  was  rabbi.  The  other  three  German  congrega- 
tions were  the  Anshe  Chesed,  the  Shaare  Shomayim 
and  the  Rodef  Shalom.  One  week  after  his  arrival  in 
New  York,  Lilienthal  was  invited  to  preach  before  the 
Anshe  Chesed  congregation.  How  his  reputation  had 
preceded  him  appears  from  the  notice  in  the  daily 
press  to  the  effect  that  "Dr.  Lilienthal,  chief  rabbi  of 
Russia  (sic!)  will  give  a  lecture  in  the  Synagog  Anshe 
Chesed  next  Saturday,"  etc.  On  the  following  Sab- 
bath he  preached  also  before  the  other  two  congrega- 
tions. After  hearing  him,  the  three  congregations 
combined  their  forces  and  at  a  joint  meeting  held  on 
December  28,  1845,  elected  him  rabbi ;  in  a  letter  an- 
nouncing this  fact  he  signs  himself  "chief  rabbi"  and 
as  such  he  was  known.    He  closes  his  letter  by  saying, 

51 


MAX   ULIEINTHAL. 

"I  thank  the  Lord  who  has  granted  me  the  oppor- 
tunity anew  to  proclaim  and  to  teach  His  holy  word."® 
He  was  now  fairly  launched  upon  his  new  career. 
He  was  installed  as  chief  rabbi  of  the  three  congrega- 
tions on  January  10,  1846.  An  interesting  account  of 
this  event  was  written  for  the  Occident  by  James  K. 
Gutheim,^  at  that  time  a  teacher  in  New  York.  In 
this  report  of  the  inaugural  sermon  preached  on  that 
occasion,  the  writer  states  that  the  rabbi  expressed  his 
disapproval  of  the  innovations  introduced  by  the  re- 
form rabbis  in  Germany.  In  this  first  official  utter- 
ance on  American  soil,  Lilienthal  took  his  stand  on 
the  basis  of  tradition,  but  he  stated  that  although  he 
would  keep  aloof  from  innovations,  he  would  aim  at 
securing  decorum  at  the  services.  Lihenthal's  later 
championing  of  reform  caused  him  to  be  accused  of 
inconsistency  owing  to  his  utterances  in  this  inaugural 
and  other  sermons  preached  in  New  York.  It  will  be 
well  to  make  this  matter  clear  at  the  outset.  Although 
he  thus  began  as  a  sympathizer  with  what  is  known  as 
orthodoxy,  still  as  he  became  better  acquainted  with 
American  conditions  he  recognized  the  need  of  reform. 
In  other  words,  he  grew  in  liberal  religious  thought 
as  the  years  advanced.  His  sympathies,  however,  were 
never  with  radicalism.  He  was  a  conservative  re- 
former, if  such  a  seemingly  paradoxical  phrase  is  per- 
missible, to  the  end  of  his  life.  It  was  at  first  his 
belief  that  reforms  could  find  their  warrant  in  the 
Talmud,  and  he  wrote  copiously  to  this  effect  although 
later  he  abandoned  this  attempt.    As  time  went  on  he 

^  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Jiidenthiims,  X,  98. 
'Vol.  Ill,  574-6. 

*  Later    the    distinguished    rabbi    of    Temple    Sinai,    New 
Orleans. 

52 


I^IRST    YDARS    IN    AMERICA. 

became  more  and  more  outspoken  in  his  reform  posi- 
tion, as  we  shall  see.  But  he  was,  above  all,  a  man  of 
peace,  and  in  the  many  bitter  contentions  that  marred 
the  relations  of  the  reform  leaders  in  the  third  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  Lilienthal  stood  out  as  the 
peacemaker  who  attempted  to  smooth  over  the  bitter 
expressions  of  the  fiery  Hotspurs.  His  motto  was 
quiet  development  and  orderly  progress.  During  the 
period  of  his  ministry  in  New  York,  about  one  year 
after  he  had  entered  upon  his  duties  as  rabbi,  he 
diagnosed  the  situation  in  words  which  make  very  clear 
his  own  position  as  just  indicated. 

"Our  century  glorifies  results  and  discoveries,  like 
the  railroad,  the  steamship  and  the  magnetic  telegraph ; 
for  their  usefulness  lies  on  the  surface ;  our  age  probes 
no  deeper.  We  theologians,  swept  along  by  this  prac- 
tical tendency,  would  like  to  discover  spiritual  steam 
machinery  and  telegraphs,  so  as  to  bring  mankind  to 
God  and  perfection  in  a  trice.  But  this  is  quite  im- 
possible despite  all  the  jolting  and  shaking,  despite  all 
the  tearing  down  and  building  up;  mankind  requires 
time  for  its  development,  and  whoever  would  judge  it 
aright  must  be  patient  or  else  he  will  never  compre- 
hend it.  If  this  patience  in  spiritual  matters  be  neces- 
sary anywhere,  it  is  particularly  so  here,  where  the 
seed  has  been  sown  so  recently  and  is  just  beginning 
to  sprout.  If  one  has  the  gift  of  quiet,  though  by  no 
means  inactive,  looking  on  he  will  surely  not  be  dis- 
satisfied with  local  conditions".^ 

This  "gift  of  quiet  though  by  no  means  inactive 
looking  on"  well  describes  his  own  attitude  notably 
during  these  early  years.    Though  unsympathetic  with 

'  Allgenieine  Zeitung  des  Jndentliums,  XI,  364-6. 

53 


MAX   UUUNTIIAL. 

radical  measures,  he  introduced  almost  at  the  start 
such  reforms  as  he  felt  were  necessary  to  make  a  re- 
ligious appeal  to  a  generation  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  free  institutions.  He  preached  regularly  in  German; 
in  place  of  the  Hanoteii  Ycschuah,  the  prayer  for  the 
government  composed  for  monarchical  conditions,  he 
substituted  a  new  prayer  appropriate  to  the  republican 
form  of  government.  He  organized  a  choir  and  form- 
ed a  confirmation  class ;  this  was  the  first  to  be  con- 
firmed in  the  United  States ;  the  feast  of  Shabuot, 
1846,  was  the  date  of  this  first  confirmation ;  in  speak- 
ing of  these  reforms  he  wrote :  "Thus  I  hope  with 
God's  help  to  place  our  young  congregations  here  in 
all  things  that  touch  our  holy  religion,  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  best-organized  congregations  in  the 
old  world".^° 

He  was  very  active  not  only  in  his  own  congrega- 
tion, but  in  a  wider  sphere.  As  instances  of  this  larger 
activity  mention  may  be  made  of  his  success  in  induc- 
ing two  small  congregations  in  New  Haven  to  unite, 
thus  forming  a  single  congregation,  the  Mishken 
Shalom,  which  adopted  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
his  New  York  congregations.  He  participated  in  the 
dedication  of  synagogs  of  numerous  congregations, 
such  as  Emanuel  of  New  York  (April  14,  1848),  the 
Friendship  Hebrew  of  Baltimore  (Sept.  15,  1848), 
the  Beth  El  of  Albany,  New  York  (Oct.  3,  1851),  the 
Ohabei  Shalom  of  Boston,  Mass.  (Sept.  15,  1854). 

He  was  largely  instrumental  in  forming  the  first 
association  of  rabbis  in  the  United  States.  This  asso- 
ciation known  as  the  Beth  Din  was  formed  to  render 
"beneficial    service    to    the    Jewish    congregations    of 

'"  Ibid,  X,  289-90. 

54 


FIRST   YEARS    IN    AMERICA. 

America" ;  its  purpose  was  not  "to  assume  any  hier- 
archical authority,  but  to  act  only  in  an  advisory 
capacity".  The  members  of  this  first  American  rab- 
binical organization  were  Max  Lilienthal,  who  was 
chosen  president,  Isaac  M.  Wise,  who  acted  as  secre- 
tary, and  Rabbis  Felsenheld  and  Kohlmeyer.  It  was 
organized  in  October,  1846,  and  although  it  existed  a 
very  short  time,  still  it  is  important  as  the  first  attempt 
at  united  action  on  the  part  of  rabbis  in  this  country ; 
it  is  also  significant  for  the  fact  that  Isaac  M.  Wise, 
who  had  arrived  recently  in  this  country^^  presented 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Beth  Din  a  plan  for  a 
Minhag  America  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  a  union 
prayer  book  for  American  Jewish  congregations.  The 
reason  for  planning  such  a  prayer  book  was  that  "daily 
experience  teaches  that  dissensions  in  communities 
arise  largely  from  the  circumstance  that  every  immi- 
grant brings  a  particular  Minhag  from  his  European 
home;  the  German  is  unwilling  to  yield  to  the  Pole, 
nor  the  latter  to  the  Englishman,  nor  the  last  named 
to  the  Portuguese.  This  evil  which  prevents  the 
peaceable  development  of  the  young  congregations 
would  be  removed  by  a  Minhag  America" }^ 

This  evil  was  aggravated  in  succeeding  years,  not- 
ably in  the  reform  congregations,  by  the  fact  that 
many  reform  rabbis  of  prominence  issued  their  own 
individual  prayer  books.  The  desire  for  a  union  prayer 
book  first  expressed  by  the  members  of  that  earliest 
American  rabbinical  organization  was  realized  just 
forty-eight  years  later  when  the  Union  Prayer  Book 

"  In  July,  1846. 

"  See  Lilienthal's  interesting  account  of  the  Beth  Din  and 
its  purposes  and  aims,  Allgcmeine  Zeitung  des  Judenthums, 
XT,  364-6. 

55 


MAX    UWENTIIAL,. 

was  issued  by  the  Central  Conference  of  American 
Rabbis  in  1894,  the  prayer  book  now  used  by  over  three 
hundred  congregations  in  the  United  States,  compris- 
ing with  few  exceptions  all  the  liberal  congregations  of 
the  country.  Truly,  in  this  matter  Lilienthal  and  Wise 
proved  themselves  men  of  vision.  The  Beth  Din  is 
also  notable  in  that  it  was  the  first  instance  of  coopera- 
tion on  the  part  of  these  two  great  figures  in  American 
Jewry,  who  were  destined  to  work  together  in  the 
same  community  for  many  years  in  blessed  and  happy 
unity. 

Although  the  Beth  Din  existed  only  a  short  time 
and  achieved  no  actual  results,  still  it  deserves  a  place 
as  marking  a  beginning  of  the  attempt  at  Jewish  re- 
ligious organization  in  the  United  States. 

During  these  early  years  of  his  life  in  America 
Lilienthal  was  active  with  his  pen ;  in  addition  to  the 
letters  which  he  wrote  for  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  des 
Judenthums,  which  present  a  graphic  picture  of  Jew- 
ish conditions  in  this  country  at  that  time,  he  also 
wrote  the  very  valuable  sketches  of  Jewish  life  in  Rus- 
sia entitled  "Russische  Skissen" .  These  sketches, 
which  appeared  in  the  same  journal,  furnish  a  remark- 
able diagnosis  of  the  Jewish  situation  in  Russia  by  a 
very  keen  observer ;  the  events  of  the  past  thirty  years 
have  made  the  Russian  Jewish  question  a  burning  is- 
sue in  the  United  States  and  in  all  the  countries  of 
Europe.  These  descriptions,  the  first  to  be  written  by 
a  western  JeM^  about  his  coreligionists  in  Russia,  are 
therefore  of  great  interest,  particularly  as  they  dem- 
onstrate how  thoroughly  the  writer  understood  the  sit- 
uation. There  is  little  that  has  been  written  about  the 
Russian  Jews  which  displays  a  finer  comprehension 


56 


FIRST    YEARS    IN    AMERICA. 

than  these  sympathetic  yet  critical  sketches  written 
well-nigh  seventy  years  ago.^^  They  furnish  a  com- 
plete answer  to  the  statement  made  by  unfriendly 
critics  of  Lilienthal's  mission  in  Russia  that  the  rea- 
son for  the  failure  of  this  mission  lay  in  the  fact 
that  he  did  not  understand  the  Russian  Jews.  This 
failure  was  due,  as  appeared  abundantly  in  the  fore- 
going chapter,  to  the  just  suspicions  of  the  sincerity 
of  the  government  on  the  part  of  the  Russian  Jews 
and  to  the  opposition  of  the  vast  majority  to  any 
changes  and  reforms  whatsoever.  Even  this  latter 
opposition  might  have  been  overcome  had  the  em- 
peror, by  emancipating  the  Jews,  made  it  abundantly 
clear  that  he  had  no  proselytizing  purpose  in  mind. 

He  also  wrote  a  number  of  articles  for  the  Asmo- 
nean,  a  Jewish  newspaper  published  in  New  York, 
over  the  signature  L.  D.^*  Among  others  mention 
should  be  made  of  three  articles  on  "The  Jews  in 
Russia  under  Nicholas  I",^^  and  of  another  series  en- 
titled "Articles  on  Jewish  Literature".^"  In  the  for- 
mer series  he  throws  much  light  on  the  aims  and  pur- 
poses of  the  Russian  autocrat  in  his  dealings  with  the 
Jews.  Written  in  the  light  of  subsequent  reflection, 
these  articles  show  that  Lilienthal  after  his  departure 
from  Russia  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  Nicholas, 
whose  sincerity  he  had  thoroughly  trusted  in  the  mat- 

"  Allgcmcine  Zcitung  dcs  Judcnthums,  IX,  525-26,  537-39, 
552-54,  569-72,  586-88,  600-02;  XI,  154-55,  213-15,  226-30, 
547-49,  615-19,  683-86;  XII,  232-33.  See  also  Occident,  V, 
252-6,  359-60,  441-46,  491-96. 

^* Asmonean,  X,  140,  remark  by  editor:  "The  articles  ap- 
pearing in  this  journal  over  the  initials  L.  D.  are  from  the 
pen  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal." 

"  Asmonean,  X,  84,  93,  101. 

"Asmoneati,  X,  62,  77,  85,  94. 

57 


MAX    LlirlENTHAL. 

ter  of  organizing  the  Jewish  school  system  in  his 
empire,  was  really  impelled  by  but  one  motive,  viz. : 
the  conversion  of  the  Jews  to  the  reigning  religion. 
In  a  few  sentences  he  sums  up  the  situation  finely: 
"The  emperor  has  but  one  aim,  the  aggrandizement  of 
his  autocratic  power ;  and  the  aim  of  the  Jewish 
schools  should  be  no  other  but  to  awaken  in  the 
breasts  of  the  Jewish  student  the  feelings  of  man's 
dignity  and  right,  to  arouse  within  him  the  ambition 
of  rising  to  a  more  distinguished  station  of  life;  to 
bring  him  in  contact  with  the  higher  classes  of  Rus- 
sian society,  to  show  him  the  pleasures  of  distinction, 
of  rank  and  nobility,  and  when  he  has  fitted  himself 
for  the  desired  advancement,  to  tell  him  'You  are  a 
Jew,  and  a  Jew  can  not  attain  these  marks  of  imperial 
favor;  be  baptized  by  my  priest  and  all  the  ways  to 
honor,  glory,  pleasure  and  enjoyment  are  open  to 
you.'  .  .  .  The  poor  Jewish  student  hearing  on 
the  one  hand  the  allurements  of  the  imperial  seducer, 
and  seeing  on  the  other  hand  the  continued  tortures 
to  which  the  Jew  is  and  will  be  exposed,  perceiving 
how  the  Jew  is  despised,  so  that  'damned  Jew'  has 
become  a  usual  Russian  nickname,  forgets  his  duty  to 
God  and  his  religion,  and  in  despair  throws  himself 
into  the  arms  of  the  bloody  Russian  Church".^^ 

Besides  this  literary  activity,  Lilienthal  continued 
his  work  in  that  cause  of  education  which  ever  re- 
mained dear  to  him  by  establishing  a  day  school  for 
the  Jewash  youth.  This  school  to  which  he  devoted 
most  of  his  time  and  attention  after  retiring  from  the 
position   of   rabbi   of   the   three   congregations^^    was 

^''  Asmonean,  X,  100. 

"  He  volunteered  his  services,  however,  to  the  Anshe 
Chesed  congregation  and  continued  to  preach  there. 

58 


FIRST    YEARS    IN    AMERICA. 

known  as  the  Hebrew  Union  School;  its  curriculum 
provided  for  instruction  in  both  Hebrew  and  secular 
branches  of  study.  This  schooP^  was  attended  not 
only  by  Jewish  children  of  the  city  of  New  York,  but 
also  by  young  people  from  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. Among  these  young  people  were  a  number  of 
boys  of  prominent  Jewish  families  in  Cincinnati. 
When  the  Bene  Israel  congregation  of  that  city  sought 
a  rabbi,  the  fathers  of  these  boys,  members  of  this 
congregation,  urged  the  selection  of  Dr.  Lilienthal. 
He  preached  his  inaugural  sermon  before  this  congre- 
gation on  July  14,  1855.  The  final  stage  of  his  career 
opened  with  his  arrival  in  the  western  city.  He  be- 
came associated  here  with  Isaac  M.  Wise,  who  had 
come  to  the  city  a  year  previously.  Together  these 
two  great  leaders  toiled,  each  however,  in  his  own 
way,  for  they  w^ere  far  different  in  disposition,  char- 
acter and  method.  Through  their  united  work  in  the 
cause  of  Judaism,  Cincinnati  secured  a  preeminent 
place  among  the  Jewish  communities  of  the  country. 
The  names  of  these  two  men  are  linked  together  for 
all  time  in  the  story  of  the  further  development  of 
Judaism  not  only  in  the  city  which  became  their  home, 
but  also  in  the  entire  country. 

^^  Occident,  V,  316.     See  also  a  description  of  the  scliool 
and  its  work  by  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  Occident,  VIII,  424. 


59 


MAX    UUENTHAIv. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   RABBI   OF   THE    BENE   ISRAEL   CONGREGATION. 

The  activity  of  the  new  rabbi  of  the  Bene  Israel 
congregation  expanded  in  many  directions.  Through- 
out the  remaining  twenty-seven  years  of  his  Hfe  he 
gave  himself  without  stint  and  without  measure  to 
the  service  of  his  coreligionists  and  his  fellowmen. 
He  was  a  prominent  figure  in  all  Jewish  public  affairs 
as  well  as  in  the  movements  of  a  larger  public  interest. 
His  own  congregation,  which  had  elected  him  for  life, 
received  as  a  matter  of  course  his  prime  attention,  but 
his  work  in  the  congregation  proper  constituted  but  a 
fraction  of  his  activities.  This  congregational  work, 
however,  must  be  considered  first  in  a  review  of  his 
public  activities. 

When  he  took  charge  of  the  congregation  it  was 
orthodox  in  its  form  of  worship  and  in  its  practices. 
As  he  had  done  in  New  York,  he  at  once  set  himself 
to  the  task  of  introducing  some  reforms  which  tended 
to  make  the  service  more  decorous.  Shortly  after  his 
arrival  in  Cincinnati,  the  congregation,  at  a  meeting 
held  on  August  5,  1855,  voted  to  abolish  the  sale 
of  Mitzwot,^  the  reading  of  Piuthvr  in  the  ser- 
vice, as   well   as  the  reading  of   the  sections  Bsehu 

^  The  custom  of  selling  to  the  highest  bidder  certain  hon- 
ors connected  witli  the  service. 

^  Liturgical  poems  which  in  the  course  of  the  centuries  had 
been  inserted  in  the  prayer  book. 

60 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE    BENE)    ISRAEL    CONGREGATION. 

Mekamon,  Bamcli  Madlikin  and  Pitum  Haktoreth.^ 
This  action  aroused  the  bitter  opposition  of  a  section 
of  the  membership,  which  opposition  grew  during  the 
following  months  because  of  the  advocacy  by  the 
rabbi  of  the  necessity  of  moderate  reforms,  notably 
of  such  a  nature  as  would  appeal  to  the  rising  youth 
born  and  bred  in  the  free  American  environment.  Not 
only  from  the  pulpit  did  he  give  expression  to  these 
thoughts,  but  also  in  the  columns  of  the  Israelite,  in 
the  editing  of  which  he  was  associated  with  Isaac  M. 
Wise,  the  founder,  during  1855-56.  At  the  time  that 
he  was  advocating  these  first  reforms  in  his  congre- 
gation he  wrote  an  answer  to  orthodox  calumnies  un- 
der the  caption  "The  Reformers  Want  to  Uproot 
All !"  the  concluding  words  of  which  were,  "The  field 
in  which  reform  has  labored  until  now  is  the  service  in 
the  synagogue,  and  every  innovation  introduced  there 
has  been  justified  by  Talmudical  quotations  and  Tal- 
mudical  principles.  It  has  really  very  little  to  do 
either  with  the  eternally  truthful  doctrines  or  with 
the  moral  principles  of  our  religion,  whether  the 
Yekiim  Purkan  is  said  or  not,  whether  the  Machzor 
is  recited  or  not,  and  with  sorrow  we  are  compelled 
to  call  it  either  ignorance  or  wilful  blindness  to  make 
so  much  ado  about  nothing. 

What  the  reform  party  proposes  it  proposes  for  the 
welfare  of  future  generations ;  it  wishes  to  prevent 
the  endless  desertions  and  splits,  it  wishes  to  banish 
the  hideous  indifference  which  has  taken  hold  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  Jewish  community,  it  wishes  to 
inspire  the  Jews  with  a  new  love  for  their  religion, 
and  with   such  intentions  it  does   not   fear  senseless 

*  Some  Tulnnulical  sections  which  had  been  incorporated 
in  the  prayer  book. 

61 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

and  groundless  insinuations,  but  trusts  in  Him  who 
grants  his  best  blessings  to  every  just  and  sincere 
undertaking."* 

It  was  along  this  line  that  he  worked.  He  was 
never  radical  in  his  views ;  in  fact,  he  was  conserva- 
tive by  nature,  but  he  felt  that  reform  was  necessary 
for  the  salvation  of  Judaism  in  the  American  envi- 
ronment. "Religion  and  life  must  be  reconciled,  is 
the  supreme  demand  of  our  times  and  the  just  issue 
of  all  proposed  reforms",^  he  wrote  at  this  period  of 
his  career,  and  shortly  thereafter  in  a  similar  strain, 
"Let  us  assist  time  in  its  travail  for  the  birth  of  the 
future.  Let  us  prepare  and  foster  progress.  Let  us 
remove  abuses  by  enlightenment  and  instruction  and 
an  impartial  posterity  will  gratefully  acknowledge  our 
sincere  and  faithful  endeavors".^  The  irreconcilables 
in  the  congregation,  however,  were  not  to  be  won  over. 
The  climax  came  when  the  rabbi  refused  to  be  present 
at  the  service  on  Tisha  B'ab,  the  fast  commemorative 
of  the  destruction  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Mem- 
bers that  had  been  antagonizing  all  reforms  withdrew 
and  formed  the  She'erith  Israel  congregation.  Lilien- 
thal  based  his  refusal  to  participate  in  this  service  on 
the  ground  that  the  destruction  of  the  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Romans  in  the  year  seventy  with  the  ac- 
companying loss  of  Jewish  nationality  should  not  be 
observed  by  a  service  of  lamentation  and  fasting,  for 
this  catastrophe  was  really  providential,  inasmuch  as 
it  was  the  beginning  of  the  world  mission  of  the  Jews. 
The  loss  of  a  separate  Jewish  nationality  was  the  nec- 
essary preliminary  to  the  universal  Jewish  mission  in 

*  Israelite,  II,  44. 
'  Ibid,  412. 

*  Ibid,  III,  292. 

62 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE    BENE    ISRAEL    CONGREGATION. 

all  portions  of  the  earth.  Throughout  his  life  Lilien- 
thal  remained  true  to  this  conception,  which  is  in 
fact  the  accepted  teaching  of  reform  Judaism.  Time 
and  again  he  reiterated  this  thought;  on  many  im- 
portant occasions  he  stated  it ;  the  two  greatest  events 
in  the  life  of  the  congregation  during  his  service  were 
the  dedication  of  the  new  temple  at  Mound  and 
Eighth  Streets  in  1869,  and  the  celebration  of  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  service  as  rabbi;  in 
his  dedication  sermon  he  used  these  words :  **We  owe 
no  longer  any  allegiance  to  Jerusalem,  save  the  respect 
all  enlightened  nations  pay  to  this  cradle  of  all  civiliz- 
ing religions.  We  cherish  no  longer  any  desire  for  a 
return  to  Palestine,  but  proudly  and  gratefully  exclaim 
with  the  Psalmist,  'Here  is  my  resting  place;  here 
shall  I  reside ;  for  I  love  this  place'  ".^  In  the  anni- 
versary address  he  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  reform 
congregations  had  eliminated  from  the  prayer  book 
"all  sentences  referring  to  a  return  to  Palestine,  to 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  with  its  sacrifices,  re- 
ferring to  the  dark  times  of  persecution  and  mutual 
aversion",^  and  in  his  address  at  the  convention  of 
the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  held  in 
Washington  in  the  centennial  year  of  American  inde- 
pendence, he  declared  that  "modern  Judaism  does 
neither  dream  nor  wish  to  return  to  Palestine;  here 
is  our  home ;  here  our  fatherland.  Hence  we  strike 
from  all  bequeathed  prayer  books  any  line  that  re- 
minds us  of  the  temple  and  sacrifices ;  we  know  that 
the  best  religion  is  humanity,  the  best  divine  service, 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself ;  the  motto  which  we  in- 

'  Israelite,  XVT,  10,  8  (September  3,  1869). 
"Israelite,  XXVII,  No.  52. 


63 


MAX   LIURNTIIAL. 

scribe  on  our  banner  is  the  common  fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  common  brotherhood  of  man"." 

The  universaHsm  of  Judaism  formed  thus  the  bur- 
den of  his  preaching  and  his  teaching.  To  his  mind 
the  reform  movement  emphasized  this.  Although  the 
first  reforms  that  he  introduced  into  his  congregation 
were  accompanied  by  the  upheaval  which  resulted  in 
the  withdrawal  of  quite  a  number  of  members  from 
the  congregation,  and  although  his  opponents  con- 
tinued to  attack  him  because  of  his  espousal  of  the 
reform  cause,  still  he  had  the  great  majority  of  his 
congregation  with  him ;  because  of  the  attacks  con- 
stantly made  upon  him  his  congregation  at  a  meeting 
held  on  July  24,  1860,  adopted  resolutions  of  confi- 
dence in  him  and  expressed  their  great  esteem  for  him 
and  their  appreciation  of  the  work  he  was  doing.^° 

The  passing  years  intensified  this  feeling  of  esteem 
and  admiration  so  that  when  he  resigned  the  position 
in  February,  1868,  to  accept  a  call  to  the  pulpit  of 
Temple  Emanuel,  New  York,  such  pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  that  he  withdrew  his  resig- 
nation and  consented  to  remain  in  Cincinnati.  A 
striking  incident  in  connection  with  this  event  indi- 
cated the  remarkable  standing  of  Dr.  Lilienthal  in  the 
community  at  large.  Some  of  the  foremost  citizens 
of  Cincinnati,  headed  by  Judge  Bellamy  Storer,  re- 
quested the  Board  of  Trustees  to  hold  a  meeting  with 
them  at  Judge  Storer's  home.  It  was  urged  at  this 
meeting  that  Dr.  Lilienthal  was  too  valuable  a  citizen 
for  the  community  to  lose  and  that  every  effort  should 
be  made  to  retain  him. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  Dr.  Lilienthal  entertained 

"Ibid,  xxiir,  No.  2. 
"Ibid,  VII,  26. 

64 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE;    BENE    ISRAEL    CONGREGATION. 

the  thought  of  leaving  was  the  delay  in  building  a  new 
temple,  which  project  lay  very  near  to  his  heart.-  Al- 
though the  land  for  the  structure  had  been  purchased, 
the  work  of  building  was  deferred.  As  an  inducement 
to  the  rabbi  to  remain,  the  promise  was  made  that  the 
work  would  proceed  at  once.  This  was  done  and  the 
cornerstone  of  the  new  temple  was  laid  June  5,  1868. 
An  echo  of  the  dissensions  that  marked  the  early  days 
of  his  work  in  Cincinnati  resounded  on  this  occasion 
when  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Shc'erith  Israel 
congregation,  that  was  composed  largely  of  the  seced- 
ing orthodox  members  of  the  mother  congregation, 
refused  to  accept  the  invitation  to  attend  the  cor- 
nerstone laying;  when  reproached  for  this  action  by 
Dr.  Wise  in  the  columns  of  the  Israelite  they  answered 
in  a  communication  telling  the  reasons  why  they  had 
seceded ;  this  was  because  of  disagreement  with  Dr. 
Lilienthal's  views  and  because,  as  they  claimed.  Dr. 
Lilienthal  had  changed  from  orthodox  to  reform  after 
coming  to  Cincinnati,  he  having  been  elected  as  an  or- 
thodox rabbi.  Thus,  it  appeared  that  the  bitter  feelings 
engendered  in  these  early  years  had  not  been  assuaged. 
It  was  no  doubt  true,  as  these  men  claimed,  that  they 
had  elected  Dr.  Lilienthal  thinking  he  was  orthodox  in 
his  views,  but  before  he  came  to  Cincinnati,  he  had  ex- 
pressed his  sympathy  with  the  reform  standpoint.  In 
truth,  he  was  a  leading  member  of  a  liberal  society  in 
New  York  known  as  the  Lichtfreunde ;  in  an  address 
delivered  before  this  organization  in  1849  he  had  said 
(and  these  words  were  published)  :  "We  feel  that 
we  have  broken  with  the  past  of  Judaism,  and  that  the 
bridge  which  would  make  a  retreat  possible  is  cut  off". 
Still  he  was  by  no  means  an  extremist  as  this  rhetorical 
phrase  would  indicate ;  for  all  that  he  held  strongly  to 

65 


MAX   LIUliNTllAL,. 

all  that  was  fine  in  the  past  and  built  upon  it  for  the 
future.  As  already  said  he  was  a  conservative  re- 
former. He  was  by  no  means  fanatical  in  his  reform 
sentiments,  but  calm  and  reasonable.  If  there  was 
any  fanaticism  at  all  in  his  makeup  it  appeared  in  his 
war  upon  fanaticism  and  in  his  intense  love  of  free- 
dom, as  shall  appear  later  on  in  the  discussion  of  his 
attitude  on  such  questions  as  religious  liberty,  the 
American  doctrine  of  the  separation  of  church  and 
state,  and  Bible  reading  in  the  public  schools.  In  his 
preaching  as  in  all  his  congregational  activities,  he  was 
animated  by  the  one  desire  of  inculcating  the  love  of 
Judaism  into  the  hearts  of  his  people,  and  this  he  felt 
could  be  done  best  by  interpreting  the  faith  in  the 
terms  of  the  age  in  which  he  was  living. 

The  new  temple  was  dedicated  on  August  27,  1869. 
The  hopes  of  years  were  .realized  and  the  rabbi's 
heart  sang  for  joy.  His  sermon  on  this  to  him  so 
great  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  significant  utter- 
ances of  his  life.  It  contains  the  ripe  fruit  of  his 
thinking.  In  this  sermon  spoke  the  man  who  repre- 
sented the  finest  type  of  the  American  Jew,  the  man 
who  by  his  teaching  and  his  service  had  given  con- 
spicuous testimony  always  and  everywhere  that  the 
Jews  are  a  religious  community  and  not  a  nation.  In 
this  sermon  spake  the  man  who  believed  in  progress 
despite  all  the  outward  signs  that  now  and  then 
seemed  to  belie  it.  In  this  sermon  occurs  that  famous 
passage,  possibly  the  best  known  that  Dr.  Lilienthal 
ever  penned,  in  which  he  drew  the  distinction  be- 
tween theology  and  religion.  The  more  striking  pas- 
sages of  the  sermon  were  as  follows : 

"Progress  and  Judaism — these  words  once  did  seem 
to  both  Jew  and  Gentile  a  flagrant  contradiction.    Our 

66 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE    BENE    ISRAEL    CONGREGATION. 

Jewish  fathers  for  eighteen  long  centuries,  excluded 
from  the  enjoyment  of  all  human  rights  and  immuni- 
ties, hunted  down  by  church  and  state  with  fanatical 
and  bigoted  nicknames,  as  the  Pariahs  of  Society, 
despaired  of  the  present,  looked  with  gloomy  fore- 
bodings into  the  future,  and  found  hope  and  comfort 
only  in  the  reminiscences  of  their  glorious  past. 

"Hence  their  longing  for  Jerusalem ;  hence  their  de- 
sire for  the  worship  of  the  old  temple  with  its  obso- 
lete ceremonies  and  sacrifices ;  hence  their  continuous 
wailing  and  lamentations  in  their  prayers ;  hence  their 
gloomy  and  austere  seclusion  from  all  intercourse  with 
the  world,  that  hated,  despised  and  persecuted  them. 

"But  this  dark  night,  thank  Almighty  Providence, 
has  passed  away,  though  the  ghastly  spectre  may  still 
be  lurking  here  and  there.  Since  the  glorious  day  of 
the  Fourth  of  July,  1776,  the  spell  has  been  broken, 
and  a  better  morning  is  dawning  for  the  human  race. 
Since  the  blessed  and  immortal  fathers  of  our  coun- 
try, these  prophets  of  modern  times,  declared  it  to  be 
"a  self-evident  truth  that  every  man  is  entitled  to  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness",  the  old  fetters 
and  barriers  have  been  broken  down,  and  all  over  the 
old  continent,  political  and  religious  hberty  begins  now 
to  become  the  law  of  the  various  countries.  God 
bless  America  for  this  glorious  redemption  .  .  . 
Sunning  ourselves  in  the  golden  rays  of  human  and 
universal  liberty  we  have  ceased  our  wailings  and  cries 
of  sorrow,  and  our  prayers  and  psalmodies  are  full  of 
thanksgiving  and  wishes  for  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
human  race.  Where  in  old  books,  relics  reminding 
us  of  the  dark  bygone  times  are  to  be  found,  we  un- 
reservedly  strike  them  out   and   declare  them  to  be 


67 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

abolished.  Nothing  but  love,  sympathy  and  good  will 
to  all  mankind  of  whatsoever  race  or  denomination. 

"This  idea  of  reform  and  progress  is  with  the 
Israelite  no  longer  a  question  of  principle;  but  in  or- 
der to  be  fully  carried  out,  only  a  question  of  time. 
Old  habits  and  notions  can  not  be  uprooted  over  night ; 
they  do  not  die  a  sudden,  apoplectic  death ;  but  they 
gradually  must  give  way  and  are  passing  away     .     .     . 

"The  curse  under  which  humanity  has  suffered  so 
long  is  the  fatal  fact  that  men  mistook  theology  for 
religion,  and  confounded  them.  And  yet  are  they  not 
as  unlike  and  dissimilar  as  day  and  night,  light  and 
darkness?  Theology  is  dogmatism;  religion  is  love, 
broad  and  universal  as  God's  love.  Theology  sowing 
strife,  hatred,  prejudice  and  bigotry  separates  man- 
kind; religion  by  teaching  love,  forbearance,  tolera- 
tion and  reconciliation  tries  to  unite  it.  Theology 
dreams  of  a  superiority  and  supremacy  of  the  clergy ; 
religion  teaches  you  shall  all  be  a  kingdom  of  priests 
and  a  holy  nation.  Theology,  claiming  the  superiority 
of  the  church  over  the  state  and  human  society  at- 
tempts to  make  the  highest  interests  of  the  human 
race  subservient  to  obsolete  medieval  dogmas  and 
imaginary  claims ;  religion,  rejoicing  in  the  sacred 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  equality, 
leaves  the  mode  of  worshiping  our  Heavenly  Father 
to  the  private  conviction  and  responsibility  of  the 
individual.  Of  theology  it  may  be  said,  with  the 
prophet's  words :  'They  cry  for  peace,  peace,  but 
there  is  no  peace',  while  religion  glories  in  the  sublime 
words :  'Peace  be  to  those  who  are  near  and  afar  off', 
says  the  Lord,  'I  shall  heal  them  all'. 

"This  is  the  radical  difference  between  theology 
and  religion.    And  hence  the  immortal  fathers  of  this, 

68 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE    BENE    ISRAEL    CONGREGATION. 

our  glorious  country,  when  laying  down  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  free  institutions,  at  once 
decreed  the  final  and  thorough  separation  of  church 
and  state.  Blessed  be  their  sacred  memory!  It  must 
have  been  almost  a  divine  revelation  that  inspired 
men  like  Jefferson,  Adams,  Franklin  and  their  match- 
less compeers,  who,  when  trying  to  establish  a  union 
of  hands  and  hearts  between  man  and  man,  pro- 
nounced this  all  important  principle,  upon  which  the 
peace  of  the  modern  state  and  society  is  going  to  rest. 

"Efforts  both  in  the  old  and  the  new  world  are  now 
being  made  to  revive  the  old  struggle,  to  establish  the 
supremacy  of  the  church,  to  secure  its  superiority 
over  the  sacred  rights  and  liberties  with  which  the 
Creator  has  endowed  his  children.  Thank  Heaven, 
the  progressive  men  of  all  nations  are  to  thwart  and 
frustrate  this  nefarious  scheme."" 

The  succeeding  years  passed  pleasantly  and  quietly 
as  far  as  his  work  in  the  congregation  was  concerned ; 
other  reforms  such  as  the  substitution  of  the  Minhag 
America,  the  reform  prayer  book,  for  the  old  Siddur, 
the  traditional  liturgy,  and  the  removal  of  the  hat 
during  divine  worship  were  introduced.  Dr.  Lilien- 
thal  preached  effectively  as  ever.  The  congregation 
grew  steadily  and  maintained  its  place  as  one  of  the 
great  Jewish  congregations  of  the  land.  The  public 
service  of  its  renowned  leader  both  in  the  cause  of 
Judaism  and  the  larger  work  in  the  local  community 
and  the  country  reflected  glory  upon  it.  The  expres- 
sion of  appreciation  of  his  labors  by  his  congregation 
and  the  community  was  voiced  finely  on  the  great 
occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth  anni- 

"  Israelite,  XVI,  10,  8. 

69 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

versary  of  his  service.  The  whole  community  joined 
in  the  tribute  of  devotion  and  love.  His  life-long 
friend  and  coworker,  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise,  pictured  the 
fine  service  that  Dr.  Lilienthal  had  rendered  to  Jew 
and  Judaism  and  incidentally  to  humanity  by  assuag- 
ing prejudice.  Possibly  there  has  never  been  a  Jewish 
leader  in  this  country  who  has  done  more  effective 
work  in  this  regard  than  did  the  messenger  of  peace 
who  stood  so  many  years  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Bene 
Israel  congregation.  Dr.  Wise  summed  up  this  service 
in  a  beautiful  tribute  to  his  friend  when  he  said: 

"There  are,  I  have  no  doubt,  many  persons  within 
hearing  distance  who  recollect  the  various  prejudices 
which  existed  also  in  this  enlightened  city,  between 
Jew  and  Gentile.  It  is  not  the  will  of  God,  who  is 
the  common  Father  of  all ;  it  is  not  the  teaching  of 
Judaism,  with  its  great  law  of  'Love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,  that  such  prejudices  and  dissensions  and  mu- 
tual distrust  should  exist  among  good  people ;  and  by 
the  will  of  God,  and  let  me  add,  by  the  beneficent 
influence  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal,  most  of  these  preju- 
dices were  eradicated  in  this  city.  'How  beautiful 
upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  publisheth 
peace'.  He  approached  priest  and  layman.  Christian 
and  infidel,  church  and  society  with  the  palm  branch 
of  peace,  soothed  and  calmed  agitated  minds,  carried 
light  into  obscure  recesses  and  good  will  into  many 
hearts.  Therefore,  to  a  great  extent  we  enjoy  here 
this  peace  and  mutual  respect,  this  good  understand- 
ing between  Jew  and  Gentile,  which  is  our  pride  and 
satisfaction,  and  for  which  we  are  largely  indebted 
to  the  man  of  whom  we  say  'Thou  art  peace',  there- 
fore, 'thy  house  is  in  peace'. 

"The   billows   of   dissensions   did   run   high,   alas! 

70 


The  rabbi  of  thf  bene  israeiv  congregation. 

very  high  and  threatening  about  the  camp  of  Israel. 
The  great  and  glorious  work  which  had  been  accom- 
plished by  thousands  of  hearts  and  thousands  of  hands 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  honor  of  Israel  on  this 
virgin  soil  of  freedom  and  progressive  humanity  was 
seriously  threatened  with  cessation  and  retrogression 
by  the  dissensions  of  influential  and  potent  men.  We 
are  the  sons  of  different  countries  and  the  disciples 
of  different  schools ;  we  had  too  many  different  edu- 
cators ;  our  dear  mother,  the  religion  of  Israel,  and 
the  freedom  of  our  country,  could  not  at  once  over- 
come all  the  difficulties,  dissensions  and  inherited  no- 
tions which  did  necessarily  cling  to  us.  The  man  who, 
like  Aaron  of  old,  stepped  in  with  the  censer  of  frank- 
incense between  the  living  and  the  dead,  was  again 
this  very  same  Dr.  Lilienthal.  Once,  twice,  ten  times, 
again  and  again,  he  made  earnest  attempts  to  unite 
the  discordant  elements,  to  bring  peace  into  the  camp 
of  Israel,  and  he  did  succeed ;  every  good  work  suc- 
ceeds. He  did  succeed  in  establishing  the  Rabbinical 
Literary  Association  which  means  more,  vastly  more, 
than  a  union  of  talents,  or  the  mere  cooperation  of 
literary  gentlemen.  It  means  a  good  understanding 
among  the  leading  teachers  of  American  Israel ;  it 
means  'peace  be  to  all  that  thou  hast'.  God  bless  the 
harbinger  of  peace". 

The  president  of  the  congregation,  Mr.  Julius  Frei- 
berg, was  its  spokesman,  and  in  presenting  to  the  dis- 
tinguished celebrant  a  laurel  wreath  in  the  name  of 
the  congregation,  said : 

"This  laurel  wreath  is  an  emblem  of  victory  in  the 
great  and  glorious  struggle  of  religious  liberty  against 
bigotry  and  fanaticism ; 

"Light  against  darkness  and  superstition; 

71 


MAX   LIUENTHAI,, 

"Free  inquiry  against  intolerance ; 

"Flumanity  and  brotherly  love  against  sectarianism 
and  hatred ; 

"Charity  and  benevolence  against  heartlessness  and 
discrimination ;  and  as  trophies  of  war  you  carry  with 
you  the  hearts  of  all  the  members  and  a  host  of 
friends ; 

"And  as  the  fruit  of  the  plant  which  this  wreath 
represents  turns  a  golden  hue  as  it  ripens,  so  may  you 
live  in  health,  joy,  vigor,  and  usefulness  with  and 
among  us  until  your  golden  year  of  jubilee." 

In  his  response  to  these  tributes  of  appreciation  and 
affection,  Dr.  Lilienthal  stressed  what  he  considered 
the  outstanding  features  of  his  long  service.  There  is 
no  note  of  vainglory  in  the  words,  only  a  heartfelt 
statement  of  the  use  of  unusual  opportunities  for  the 
teaching  of  high  truths  in  his  own  pulpit,  and  the 
furtherance  of  peace  and  good  will  among  men  in 
many  places.  Let  some  portions  of  this  deeply  felt 
address  be  set  down  here: 

"While  we  sing  hymns  of  thanksgiving  for  the 
blessings  we  have  enjoyed  together,  we  have  higher, 
broader  and  more  ample  reasons  for  looking  back  with 
satisfaction  on  the  work  which  we  have  accomplished 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years. 

"It  was  our  common  aim  to  secure  for  our  religion 
the  respect  it  deserves ;  to  claim  for  it  the  right  and 
privileges  to  which  it  is  entitled  and  to  prepare  a  better 
brotherly  understanding  between  the  various  churches 
and  denominations  in  our  land. 

"When  I,  the  Jewish  rabbi,  with  your  consent,  de- 
livered sermons  in  the  Unitarian  and  Universalist 
churches  in  this  city,  the  papers  both  in  the  old  and 


72 


THE    RABBI    OF    THE    BENE    ISRAEL,    CONGREGATION. 

the  new  continent  dilated  upon  this  new  phenomenon, 
and  inscribed  their  leaders  Signs  of  the  Times. 

"Yes,  signs  of  the  times  they  were,  but  not  in  the 
sense  they  put  it.  We  did  not  mean  to  surrender  the 
essence  and  spirit  of  our  religion,  but  we  intended  to 
point  out  that  truth  which  is  at  the  foundation  of 
every  religion,  and  where  we  can  all  meet  on  one  com- 
mon platform,  as  the  children  of  one  God,  as  brethren 
of  one  and  the  same  human  family. 

"We  said  this  common  platform  is  love  to  God  and 
love  to  man.  Open  the  Bibles  of  the  various  nations 
and  religions ;  they  all  teach  and  preach  the  same 
doctrine ;  it  is  the  true  revelation  of  the  divine  spirit 
enthroned  in  the  human  heart  and  mind.  Let  this 
doctrine  of  universal  unsectarian  love  once  be  ac- 
knowledged, then  the  Kingdom  of  God  will  be  near 
at  hand;  fanaticism,  bigotry  and  prejudice  will  die 
out,  and  under  the  most  various  forms  and  ceremonies 
we  will  worship  but  one  Father.  We  will  hold  divine 
services  becoming  our  age,  as  love  will  be  the  offici- 
ating high  priest,  love  the  only  sacrifice  demanded  by 
divine  justice  and  mercy. 

"Then  we  said  we  shall  no  longer  speak  of  mere 
material  toleration,  where  sectarian  ill-will  and  am- 
bitions are  checked  merely  by  the  power  of  the  modern 
state ;  nay,  with  true,  genuine  American  spirit  we  shall 
speak  of  the  full  religious  liberty  and  equality  which 
honors  and  protects  all  forms  in  which  God  is  invoked 
and  love  is  taught,  inculcated  and  practiced.     .     .     . 

"On  this  solemn  occasion,  I  can  not  forbear  utter- 
ing the  joyful  and  blissful  sentiment  that  we  have  not 
worked  in  vain,  and  that  Cincinnati  took  the  lead  in 
fostering  a  brotherly  sentiment  between  Jews  and 
Christians.     It  is  a  bright  gem  in  the  diadem  of  our 

73 


MAX    ULIENTHAIv. 

Queen  City.  On  many,  many  a  public  occasion  she 
has  constantly  shown  that  she  honors  the  man  and 
the  citizen  and  disregards  all  denominational  differ- 
ences.    .     .     . 

"And  if  asked,  What  have  you  and  your  congrega- 
tion done  to  promote,  as  Israelites,  the  noble  aim  you 
have  pictured  before  our  eyes?  we  are  able  to  give  an 
account  satisfactory  to  ourselves  and  our  friends. 

"We  have  erected  this  temple,  of  which  every 
visitor,  awakening  from  a  dream  of  bygone  ages,  ex- 
claims with  the  Patriarch  'This  is  none  other  but  a 
house  of  God  and  a  gate  to  heaven'.     .     .     . 

"In  union  with  our  progressive  sister  congregations 
and  their  eminent  leaders  we  have  established  a  divine 
service  working  for  Israel's  redemption  in  this  land 
of  virgin  liberty ;  a  service  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age  and  the  progress  of  humanity ;  a  service 
teaching  and  promulgating  nothing  but  love,  justice 
and  liberty. 

"Therefore,  I  was  ordered  to  preach  from  this  pul- 
pit the  American  doctrine  of  separating  church  and 
state,  to  uphold  our  star-spangled  banner  with  the 
glorious  inscription  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and 
forever  maintain  the  interests  of  our  free  public 
schools,  the  nursery  of  free  and  good  men.  And 
how  easily,  how  cheerfully  could  I  obey  orders,  when 
I  had  to  apply  but  the  principles  and  essential  doc- 
trines of  our  Jewish  religion. 

"  'One  God'  and  because  he  is  One — He  is  the  father 
of  all  his  human  children,  no  matter  what  their  race 
or  creed  may  be.  As  the  prophet  says,  'Have  we 
not  all  one  father,  has  not  one  God  created  us  all; 
why  should  we  destroy  the  covenant  of  brotherly 
love?' 

74 


thh;  rabbi  of  the:  be;ne:  israe;l,  congregation. 

"How  easily  and  cheerfully  could  I  obey  orders  to 
preach  universal  love  and  good  will,  when  we  Israelites 
do  not  know  of  damnation  on  account  of  creed  and 
happily  assert  that  the  Eternal  Judge  looks  only  to 
the  moral  works  of  man ! 

"How  easily  and  cheerfully  could  I  obey  orders  to 
preach  and  teach  justice  and  liberty,  when  I  remem- 
ber that  even  on  the  bell  in  Independence  Hall  which 
pealed  forth  the  sounds  of  human  deliverance  are 
engraved  but  the  words  of  scripture  'You  shall  pro- 
claim liberty  throughout  the  land  to  all  its  inhab- 
itants'!     .     .     ." 

Thus  had  he  labored  and  achieved  as  rabbi  of  the 
congregation ;  but  this  represented  only  a  fraction  of 
his  activity;  what  it  was  granted  to  him  to  accom- 
plish in  his  service  outside  of  the  congregation  must 
form  the  subject  of  another  chapter. 


75 


MAX    IvIWENTHAt,. 


CHAPTER  V. 

IN  PUBLIC  UFE. 

It  has  already  appeared  in  the  course  of  this  narra- 
tive, that  almost  from  the  beginning  of  his  settlement 
in  the  United  States,  Lilienthal  addressed  himself  to 
public  activities  in  the  interest  primarily  of  the  Jews 
and  Judaism ;  later  in  his  career  he  became  identified 
prominently  with  work  for  the  public  weal  without 
distinction  of  creed.  The  various  phases  of  this  pub- 
lic activity  may  now  be  passed  in  review. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Cincinnati  a  call  was 
issued  for  a  conference  of  rabbis  at  Cleveland.  This 
call  was  signed  by  a  great  majority  of  the  rabbis  then 
in  the  country.  The  conference,  which  was  held  in 
the  month  of  October,  1855,  instead  of  becoming,  as 
was  hoped,  the  bond  of  union  for  all  the  rabbis,  re- 
sulted in  most  unfortunate  dissensions,  the  effect  of 
which  lasted  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  state- 
ment of  principles  adopted  by  the  rabbis  at  Cleveland 
called  forth  bitter  protests  from  the  Emanuel  congre- 
gation of  New  York  and  the  Har  Sinai  congregation 
of  Baltimore.  Dr.  David  Einhorn,  the  rabbi  of  the 
latter  congregation,  who  had  arrived  in  this  country 
a  short  time  previously,  was  the  moving  spirit  in  this 
opposition.  The  protests  were  published  in  his  magazine 
Sinai  and  he  himself  arraigned  sharply  the  resolutions 
adopted  at  the  conference.  Opposition  was  expressed, 
however,  not  only  by  Einhorn,  the  radical  reformer, 
but  also  by  Isaac  Leeser,  the  foremost  orthodox  rabbi 

76 


IN   PUBLIC  LI^E. 

of  the  country.  Leeser,  who  had  at  first  expressed 
himself  favorably  concerning  the  plan  of  a  confer- 
ence of  all  the  rabbis  of  the  country,  found  it  im- 
possible, after  the  conference  had  taken  place,  to 
endorse  what  was  done  there  because  of  the  reform- 
ing tendency  of  the  men  at  Cleveland.  The  results  of 
the  conference  were,  therefore,  most  unfortunate. 
Lilienthal,  who  had  been  secretary  of  the  conference, 
took  up  the  gauntlet  thrown  down  by  Einhorn  on  the 
one  hand  and  Leeser  on  the  other,  and  defended  the 
work  of  the  Cleveland  conference  in  the  columns  of 
the  Israelite,  of  which  he  was  the  associate  editor  at 
the  time.  In  an  article  on  "The  Parties",  he  charac- 
terized the  division  among  the  rabbis  as  uncomprom- 
ising orthodoxy,  represented  by  the  Occident;  un- 
compromising reform  represented  by  Sinai  and  prac- 
tical possible  reform  represented  by  the  Israelite  and 
the  Cleveland  Conference.^  He  addressed  also  a  series 
of  public  letters  to  the  Reverend  Isaac  Leeser,  the  first 
three  of  which  were  entitled  "The  Spirit  of  the  Age"  f 
the  fourth  "Union  and  Usages",^  and  the  fifth  "Rab- 
binical Codices  or  the  Shidchan  Arnch" }  Mr.  Leeser 
answered  these  articles  in  his  organ,  the  Occident,  in 
two  articles,  "Let  us  Consult  Others"^  and  "Rev.  Dr. 
Lilienthal  on  Reform"."  Lilienthal  defended  the  con- 
ference also  in  a  series  of  other  articles.'^  He  deplored 
the  animosities  called  forth  by  the  conference  notably 

^Israelite,  III,  12,  12. 

Mbid,  22,  170;  23,  180;  24,  189. 

=■  Ibid,  25,  197. 

*  Ibid,  26,  204. 

'  Occident,  XIV,  475. 

*  Ibid,  534. 

'Israelite,  II,  137,  148,  164. 

77 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

as  these  bitter  feelings  of  reformers  against  reform- 
ers made  impossible  the  calling  of  a  second  confer- 
ence.*' In  an  article  entitled  "Let  us  Alone",  he  wrote 
in  discouraged  strain  concerning  these  differences, 
each  party  following  its  own  way  and  wishing  neither 
cooperation  nor  union.  Still  he  is  not  altogether  dis- 
mayed, for  he  closes  with  the  words  "Let  us  not 
despair.  The  golden  rays  of  eternal  truth  soon  will 
drive  away  the  intangible  shadows  of  the  uneasy  twi- 
light and  out  of  the  present  dissension  will  be  born 
a  higher  state  of  peace  and  union!" 

This  hope  was  not  to  be  realized  for  many  years. 
Fourteen  years  elapsed  ere  the  reformers  of  the  east- 
ern section  of  the  country  and  the  reformers  of  the 
west  met  together.  This  joint  meeting  took  place  at 
Philadelphia  in  November,  1869,  when  Einhorn,  Sam- 
uel Hirsch,  Samuel  Adler  and  other  rabbinical  leaders 
of  the  east  met  together  with  Lilienthal  and  Wise  and 
other  western  rabbis.  This  conference  adopted  a 
declaration  of  principles  in  which  all  present  agreed. 
Peace  seemed  to  have  settled  where  there  had  been 
discord.  But  it  was  not  a  lasting  peace  as  appeared 
shortly  thereafter. 

The  Philadelphia  conference  not  having  taken  up 
the  subject  of  a  Minhag  America,  a  prayer  book  for 
American  reform  congregations,  in  which  Wise  and 
Lilienthal  and  others  were  much  interested,  the  Cin- 
cinnati rabbis  called  another  conference  which  met  at 
Cleveland,  July  12-15,  1870.  In  order  to  avoid  con- 
flict with  the  Philadelphia  conference  and  not  to 
arouse  any  ill-feeling  or  misunderstanding,  the  pur- 
pose of  this  conference  was  stated  to  be  the  prayer 

*  Where  Are  We  Now?    Ibid,  III,  244. 


IN   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

book  question  which  had  not  been  touched  at  Phila- 
delphia and  could  therefore  be  fairly  considered  open 
for  discussion  and  action.  None  of  the  noted  eastern 
leaders  attended  this  conference.  The  prayer  book 
question  was  fully  discussed.  It  was  agreed  that  all 
prayers  referring  to  the  return  to  Palestine,  the  sacri- 
fices, the  personal  Messiah,  the  bodily  resurrection 
and  the  angels  be  omitted.  The  work  of  revising  the 
prayer  book  was  entrusted  to  a  number  of  committees 
that  were  to  report  at  another  meeting. 

It  was  at  this  conference  that  Dr.  Lilienthal  pro- 
posed a  series  of  resolutions  which  were  adopted 
unanimously.    These  resolutions  read: 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  rabbis  of  various  cities  in  the 
union,  held  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  from  and 
after  July  13,  in  consideration  of  the  religious  commo- 
tion now  agitating  the  public  mind  in  both  hemis- 
pheres, in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  Judaism, 
it  was  unanimously  declared : 

"1.  Because  with  unshaken  faith  and  firmness  we 
believe  in  one  invisible  and  eternal  God,  we  also  be- 
lieve in  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  com- 
mon brotherhood  of  man. 

"2.  We  glory  in  the  sublime  doctrine  of  our  re- 
ligion which  teaches  that  the  righteous  of  all  nations 
will  enjoy  eternal  life  and  everlasting  happiness. 

"3.  The  divine  command,  the  most  sublime  com- 
mand of  the  Bible  'Thou  shalt  love  thy  fellowmen  as 
thyself  extends  to  the  entire  human  family,  without 
distinction  of  either  race  or  creed. 

"4.  Civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  hence,  the  sep- 
aration of  church  and  state,  are  the  inalienable  rights 
of  men,  and  we  consider  them  to  be  the  brightest  gems 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

79 


MAX    LIUKNTHAIv. 

"5.  We  love  and  revere  this  country  as  our  home 
and  fatherland  for  us  and  our  children;  and  there- 
fore consider  it  our  paramount  duty  to  sustain  and 
support  the  government ;  to  favor  by  all  means  the 
system  of  free  education,  leaving  religious  instruction 
to  the  care  of  the  different  denominations. 

"6.  We  expect  the  universal  elevation  and  fra- 
ternization of  the  human  family  to  be  achieved  by 
the  natural  means  of  science,  morality,  justice,  free- 
dom and  truth." 

The  conference  adjourned  to  meet  in  New  York. 
This  meeting  took  place  October  24  of  the  same  year, 
1870.  Dr.  Ijlienthal  was  elected  president  of  this 
conference.  It  was  resolved  at  the  first  session  to 
invite  the  New  York  rabbis  among  whom  were  David 
Einhorn  and  Samuel  Adler,  to  attend.  The  attempt 
at  reconciliation  failed  much  to  the  sorrow  of  the 
president  of  the  conference,  all  of  whose  hopes  cen- 
tered upon  peace  among  the  rabbis  of  the  country. 

The  next  rabbinical  conference  was  held  in  Cin- 
cinnati, June  5-9,  1871.  Lilienthal  submitted  his  re- 
port as  retiring  president.  It  was  at  this  conference 
that  the  plan  of  forming  a  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations,  so  long  the  hope  of  Isaac  M.  Wise, 
was  definitely  endorsed,  as  well  as  the  project  of  open- 
ing rabbinical  seminaries  not  only  in  Cincinnati,  but 
also  in  New  York.  In  the  presidential  report  just 
mentioned  Ivilienthal  referred  to  this  subject  in  the 
following  words : 

"Permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  the  necessity 
of  drafting  a  course  of  study  to  be  pursued  at  these 
future  colleges.  It  is  a  subject  of  the  highest  im- 
portance and  will  and  must  call  forth  lively  and  earn- 
est discussions.     It  will  bring  to  light  the  differences 

80 


IN   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

between  the  instruction  of  the  rabbis  of  bygone  times 
and  the  instruction  needed  for  the  members  of  the 
present  and  future  reform  congregations.  It  will 
make  apparent  the  difference  as  yet  prevailing  be- 
tween the  Reform  Movement  in  Europe  and  in 
America.  It  will  show  clearly  how  much,  under  the 
free  development  and  autonomy  of  our  congregations, 
we  are  ahead  of  those  in  Europe,  and  while  they 
across  the  ocean,  in  conformity  with  the  whole  spirit 
of  European  institutions,  cling  to  the  historical  school 
and  development,  we  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  American  institutions, 
belong  to  the  rational  school.  We  are  used  to  a 
greater  latitude  of  freedom  than  they  in  Europe,  who 
in  all  their  movements,  like  minors,  are  superintended 
by  their  governments. 

"I  therefore  recommend  to  you  the  appointment  at 
the  earliest  convenience  of  a  committee  that  will  take 
this  important  subject  under  consideration,  both  of 
the  establishment  of  rabbinical  seminaries  and  the 
course  of  studies  to  be  pursued  therein." 

He  also  urged  that  the  rabbis  support  the  new 
Hebrew  Publication  Society  which  had  just  issued  a 
circular  f  he  recommended  the  formation  of  circuits 
of  small  communities  that  had  no  rabbi  so  that  these 
communities  could  be  visited  from  time  to  time  by 
rabbis  in  the  vicinity  who  should  speak  to  the  elders 
and  teach  the  children.    This  was  the  first  suggestion 

"This  second  attempt  to  form  a  Jewish  Publication  So- 
ciety in  New  York  failed  of  success ;  the  society  existed  only 
a  few  years ;  the  present  Jewish  Publication  Society  of 
America,  organized  in  1888,  represents,  therefore,  the  third 
attempt  to  organize  a  publication  society  among  Jews  in  this 
country. 


81 


MAX    LIUENTHAL. 

on  the  subject  of  circuit  preaching  that  had  ever  been 
made  at  a  Jewish  convention  in  this  country. 

Lilienthal  served  as  vice  president  of  this  confer- 
ence. A  suggestion  having  been  submitted  to  the  con- 
ference that  a  national  rabbinical  office  be  established 
at  Washington,  Lilienthal,  v^ho  was  always  strongly 
opposed  to  anything  that  had  even  the  semblance  of 
a  central  hierarchical  authority,  offered  the  following 
preamble  and  resolution  which  were  adopted  unani- 
mously as  the  sense  of  the  conference : 

"Whereas,  it  was  mooted  in  some  quarters  to  estab- 
lish a  National  Rabbinical  office  in  Washington,  the 
capital  of  our  country,  and  the  seat  of  our  national 
legislature ;   and 

"Whereas,  we  are  opposed  to  any  centralization  of 
hierarchical  authority,  valuing  as  the  best  means  of 
advancing  progress  and  reform,  the  autonomy  of  the 
congregations ;  and 

"Whereas,  the  Hebrew  congregation  at  Washington 
is  as  yet  not  numerous  enough  to  employ  a  rabbi; 
therefore  be  it 

"Resolved,  that  the  rabbis  meeting  at  this  conference 
offer  their  services  gratuitously  to  the  Hebrew  con- 
gregation at  Washington  to  preach  and  to  lecture 
there  whenever  called  upon. 

"Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  signed 
by  the  officers  of  this  conference  be  forwarded  to 
Simon  Wolf,  Esq.,  at  Washington,  in  order  to  com- 
municate them  to  the  Hebrew  congregation  of  that 
city." 

The  so-called  "personal  God"  incident  at  this  Cin- 
cinnati conference  stirred  the  troubled  rabbinical  wa- 
ters to  renewed  fury,  and  the  differences  between  the 
east  and  the  west  became  more  accentuated  than  ever. 

82 


IN  PUBI.IC  life;. 

Lilienthal,  who  was  bitterly  disappointed  at  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  feud,  saw  the  uselessness  of  making 
further  attempts  at  reconciHation.^" 

No  further  conference  was  held  at  this  period.  The 
Cincinnati  rabbis  despairing  of  enlisting  the  East  in 
their  projects  of  union,  confined  themselves  now  to 
the  West  and  South.  The  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations  composed  in  the  first  instance  of  west- 
ern and  southern  congregations  was  organized  in 
March,  1873,  through  the  persistent  efforts  of  Isaac 
M.  Wise,  ably  seconded  by  Max  LiHenthal. 

This  great  feat  having  been  accomplished,  the  sec- 
ond great  plan  of  establishing  a  rabbinical  seminary 
was  now  proceeded  with.  A  thanksgiving  service  was 
held  at  the  Plum  Street  Temple,  Cincinnati,  on  May 
22,  1874,  because  the  first  funds  had  been  subscribed 
that  made  possible  the  opening  of  such  a  seminary  in 
the  near  future.    At  this  meeting  Dr.  Lilienthal  said : 

**We  want  a  theological  seminary  fully  coming  up 
to  the  requirements  of  our  progressive  age.  The  trod- 
den paths  of  antiquated  theology  will  not  do  any 
longer.  The  natural  sciences,  justified  criticism  and 
restless  skepticism  have  undermined  many  of  its 
foundations.  We  dare  no  longer  acknowledge  an 
open  contradiction  between  science  and  religion.  What 
is  true  in  the  one  must  be  true  in  the  other,  no  matter 
how  the  dead  letter  of  a  book  or  the  cause  of  a  church 
may  oppose  it.  .  .  .  Free  investigation  and  free 
inquiry,  sanctioned  by  reason,  though  discredited  by 
systems  of  blind  faith,  must  rule  supreme.  And 
though  we  may  have  to  surrender  many  an  idea  and 

"  See  his  communication  to  the  Jewish  Times  of  New 
York  entitled  "One  word  more  and  then  done"  of  the  date 
July  5,  1871. 

83 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

sentiment  heretofore  endeared  to  us,  truth  and  pure 
reHgion  will  only  gain  by  this  process  and  secure  a 
future  for  them  which  all  good,  wise  and  true  men 
were  always  hoping  and  praying  for. 

"Theology  must  be  adapted  to  the  progress  of  sci- 
ence ;  it  must  be  entirely  regenerated.  New  sciences 
have  been  started  since  the  last  three  decades  which 
entirely  change  its  former  aim  and  aspect.  Not  only 
the  study  of  the  natural  sciences  with  their  gigantic 
progress  influence  the  explanation  of  the  old  sacred 
books,  but  comparative  philology,  comparative  mythol- 
ogy, the  translation  of  the  holy  books  of  other  nations 
and  religions ;  the  excavations  carried  on  both  in  the 
old  and  new  world,  all  assist  in  creating  a  cosmos  in  the 
science  of  religion  too.  Old  prejudices  give  way;  old 
errors  are  corrected;  old  systems  crumble  to  pieces, 
and  upon  the  solid  basis  of  pure  religion  the  temple 
is  reared  in  which  mankind  will  learn  to  understand 
each  other  and  to  light  the  holy  flame  of  love  instead 
of  the  lurid  fire  of  bigoted  fanaticism;  and  to  pro- 
mote that  peace  and  mutual  good  will  which  is  and 
shall  be  the  essence  of  all  true  religion. 

"In  such  a  broad  and  liberal  spirit,  with  such  en- 
franchising views,  the  new  theological  Hebrew  Semi- 
nary in  America  shall  be  organized.  In  this  spirit  the 
teachers  and  professors  shall  rear  and  instruct  the 
students ;  and  with  such  enlightenment  these  shall 
then  go  forward  and  preach  the  word  of  love,  uni- 
versal charity  and  liberty  which  shall  be,  as  it  always 
has  been,  the  pride  of  our  creed,  our  religion  and  our 
race." 

And  when  finally  the  hopes  of  many  years  were  ful- 
filled in  the  establishment  of  the  Hebrew  Union  Col- 
lege, Dr.  Lilienthal,  sharing  heart  and  soul  in  the  joy 

84 


IN   PUBLIC  IvlFE. 

of  his  friend,  Dr.  Wise,  the  founder  of  the  institution, 
said  at  the  jubilee  service  held  in  celebration  of  the 
great  event : 

"I  have  been  instructed  by  the  Board  of  Governors 
to  speak  on  the  Hebrew  American  College  to  be  estab- 
lished and  supported  by  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations. 

"There  are  two  adages,  both  as  old  as  true,  namely : 
'In  union  there  is  strength',  and  'Knowledge  is  power'. 
While  the  first  one  has  already  been  elucidated  by  the 
preceding  speaker,  I  have  to  allude  but  to  the  second 
one. 

"While  others  may  assert  that  ignorance  gives 
power,  not  to  the  ignorant  ones  themselves,  but  to 
those  who  know  how  to  use  and  to  handle  them,  it  has 
always  been  in  our  religion  one  of  the  cardinal  rules 
and  principles  to  disseminate  knowledge  and  to  en- 
courage free  inquiry.  'To  know  understandingly  the 
Lord  thy  God'  is  the  command  of  the  Bible.  'Choch- 
mah'  (wisdom)  is  the  word  used  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage both  for  science  and  religion,  and  hence  Ibn- 
Ezra,  one  of  the  earliest  and  soundest  critics  of  the 
cerebrated  Hebrew-Spanish  school,  has  already  laid 
down  the  principle,  'The  mediator  between  God  and 
man  is  reason'. 

"Blind  faith  was  ever  abhorred  in  our  midst.  The 
experience  we  have  gathered  during  many  centuries 
has  taught  us  the  truth  of  the  assertion  that  blind  faith 
makes  the  people  too  confident  in  politics,  too  credu- 
lous in  science,  and  too  intolerant  in  religion.  Being 
staunch  friends  of  independence,  toleration  and  mu- 
tual good  will,  our  motto  has  ever  been  the  words, 
pronounced  by  rhetoricians  to  be  the  most  sublime 
sentence  in  the  human  language,  'Let  there  be  light'. 

85 


MAX    UIvlENTHAL. 

And  from  all  our  synagogs  and  pulpits,  both  old  and 
new,  has  ever  resounded  the  glorious  echo :  Light, 
more  light. 

"Hence  our  rabbis  in  the  times  of  the  Talmud  laid 
down  the  rule  that  before  building  a  synagog  or  tem- 
ple, the  congregation  is  bound  to  erect  a  school.  Hence, 
during  all  the  dark  times  of  the  middle  ages,  Jewish 
high  schools  and  universities  flourished  all  over  the 
Old  Continent.  Spain,  France,  Germany  and  Poland 
were  studded  with  such  seats  of  learning;  and  the 
answer  to  the  oft-raised  question,  how  could  the  Jews, 
scattered  and  dispersed,  withstand  the  persecuting 
power  of  state  and  church?  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
they  have  always  provided  for  the  education,  instruc- 
tion and  development  of  the  mind ;  they  know  too 
well  that  the  mind  governs  the  body,  and  that  knowl- 
edge will,  in  the  end,  always  triumph  over  ignorance, 
superstition  and  fanaticism. 

"True  to  the  legacy  of  our  past  history  we,  the 
American  Jews,  are  now  on  the  eve  of  opening  such 
a  school  of  learning  for  our  rising  generation.  In  the 
struggle  for  existence,  as  Darwin  calls  it,  we  could 
not  have  done  it  sooner.  The  poor  emigrant  arriving 
at  these  blessed  shores  of  human  liberty  first  had  to 
secure  his  independence,  first  had  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  ever  glorious  institutions  of  his  adopted 
country,  before  he  could  attempt  such  a  work.  But 
these  obstacles  having  been  overcome,  we  Israelites 
look  back  to  our  history  and  our  experience,  and  now 
consider  it  a  supreme  duty  to  afford  to  our  men  and 
especially  to  our  future  preachers  and  teachers,  the 
opportunity  of  acquiring  that  knowledge  which  shall 
fit  them  to  become  true  and  faithful  exponents  of  our 
religion. 

86 


IN   PUBUC  UFE. 

"Of  course,  we  could  have  adopted  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  several  good  men,  of  sending  those  who  wish 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  Jewish  ministry  to  Ger- 
many, where  the  master  minds  of  Jewish  theology  and 
literature  are  diffusing  their  stores  of  learning  to 
crowds  of  Jewish  students,  and  where  Jewish  colleges 
are  already  fully  established,  thoroughly  organized, 
and  richly  endowed.  But  we  do  not  want  any  min- 
isters reared  and  educated  under  the  influence  of 
European  institutions ;  we  intend  to  have  ministers 
reared  by  our  glorious  American  institutions,  men 
who  love  their  country  above  all,  men  who  will  be 
staunch  advocates  of  such  civil  and  religious  liberty 
as  the  men  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence understood  it,  men  who  are  ready  to  defend  this 
priceless  gem  against  all  and  any  encroachments,  and 
hence  we  wish  to  keep  our  students  at  home  and  raise 
them  as  genuine  Americans  on  the  virgin  soil  of 
American  liberty. 

"But  while  opening  this  evening  our  young  insti- 
tution, we  do  not  pretend  in  the  least  to  compare  it 
with  the  new  Jewish  colleges  in  Europe.  There  men 
quite  well  versed  in  the  Talmudical  and  rabbinical 
literature  go  to  get  their  finishing  polish  and  educa- 
tion. We,  in  this  country,  have  to  begin  at  the  very 
foot  of  the  ladder.  The  boys  who  have  come  to  pre- 
pare themselves  for  the  Jewish  ministry  have  to  be  pre- 
pared almost  from  the  very  foundation,  and  hence  we 
do  not  as  yet  open  the  college  proper,  but  only  the 
preparatory  school  and  the  preparatory  classes. 

"Yes,  so  far  all  is  merely  preparatory.  For  to  estab- 
lish a  Jewish  college  such  as  is  needed  for  our  time, 
our  wants,  and  the  spirit  of  our  progressive  age  is  a 
task  that  needs  much  preparation  even  on  the  part  of 

87 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

our  best  scholars  and  theologians.  The  course  of 
study  formerly  pursued  in  the  Yeshiboth  or  Talmud 
schools  has  become  obsolete  ;  hundreds  of  big  volumes, 
which  formerly  constituted  the  indispensable  library 
of  a  rabbi,  have  today  interest  but  for  the  antiquarian 
and  historian.  Life,  real  and  earnest,  requires  quite 
different  studies;  and  it  is  no  easy  task,  indeed,  to 
build  up  a  new  theology,  to  separate  the  chaff  from 
the  wheat,  and  to  prepare  a  course  of  study  suited  to 
our  age  and  to  its  changed  wants. 

"New  sciences  claim  our  full  attention.  Compara- 
tive theology,  comparative  mythology,  comparative 
philology  are  young  but  mighty  sciences,  and  are  ef- 
ficiently assisted  by  an  impartial  criticism.  They  have 
to  be  taught  by  competent  teachers  and  have  to  be 
mastered  by  the  modern  rabbi.  They  will,  of  course, 
batter  a  breach  in  many  an  institution  and  in  many  an 
opinion  heretofore  held  dear  and  sacred.  But  we  do 
not  fear;  they  will  injure  and  hurt  theology,  but  not 
religion ;  they  will  assist  in  advancing  Theism  and 
Humanity,  which  are  the  enlivening  and  everlasting 
principles  of  Judaism,  and  hence  we  must  try  all  means 
to  sketch  and  perfect  a  plan  which  will  carry  out  this 
noble  object  and  give  us  ministers  fully  up  to  the 
wants  of  our  progressive  time  and  enlightened  hu- 
manity. 

"In  order  to  attain  this  difficult  but  noble  aim  you 
all  know  that  the  Convention  of  the  United  Hebrew 
Congregations,  held  this  year  at  Buffalo,  on  my  mo- 
tion, appointed  a  committee  to  confer  on  this  subject 
with  the  eminent  Hebrew  scholars  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  to  obtain  from  them  their  advice  and  the  re- 
sult of  their  experience. 

"The  committee  is  earnestly  at  work,  and  before  the 


IN   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

college  proper  will  be  opened,  a  course  of  study  will 
have  been  prepared  that  will  be  an  honor  to  American 
Judaism,  an  honor  to  the  United  Congregations,  and 
a  sound,  lasting  foundation  to  the  future  college.  It 
shall  be  the  test  of  what  modern  Judaism  wants  and 
what  it  promises  to  perform  and  to  accomplish.  This 
time  of  preparation  shall  not  be  lost  in  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  Jewish  science  and  literature. 

"With  such  aspirations  we  open  the  preparatory- 
classes  of  our  college ;  but  let  us  not  forget  to  mention 
here  and  at  once  that  the  students  both  in  the  prepara- 
tory classes  and  in  the  future  college,  while  receiving 
therein  their  religious  and  theological  training,  are  by 
our  laws  obliged  to  visit  our  public  high  schools  and 
the  newly  organized  McMicken  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati. 

"We  Israelites  are  the  staunch  and  unequivocal 
friends  of  our  system  of  free  and  public  schools.  Our 
children  throng  our  primary,  intermediate,  and  high 
schools.  We  value  and  appreciate  the  advice  given 
by  our  great  Thomas  Jefferson,  that  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty,  and  education  the  cornerstone  and 
safeguard  thereof.  And  following  out  this  principle 
our  students  of  Jewish  theology  must  visit  our  free 
and  public  institutions.  The  intercourse  with  young 
America  will  free  them  of  all  sectarian  prejudice  and 
arrogance,  and  nothing  shall  be  omitted  in  our  rules 
of  discipline,  by  which  we  can  make  them  good  Jews, 
but  no  less  true,  loyal  and  devoted  Americans.     .     .     . 

"In  order  to  encourage  young  and  talented  men  to 
study  as  rabbis,  and  to  offer  them  the  prospect  of  a 
secured  livelihood,  two  measures  have  to  be  adopted. 
First,  the  annual  elections  of  preachers  have  to  be 
abolished,  and  abolished  in  good  earnest.    What  good 

89 


MAX   LIUIJNTHAl,. 

man  having  devoted  his  youth  and  his  talents  to  this 
profession,  will  expose  himself  and  his  future  to  the 
whims  of  public  opinion  and  individual  favor?  I,  at 
least,  for  my  part,  would  not  risk  the  future  of  my 
children  to  such  a  precarious  position,  and  I  am  sure 
every  thoughtful  father  will  coincide  with  me  in  this 
regard.  The  elections  must  be  during  good  behavior; 
this  point  gives  full  guarantee  to  the  congregations 
that  no  unworthy  man  shall  hold  their  office  and  draw 
the  salary;  and  to  the  minister  it  gives  that  inde- 
pendence which  is  indispensably  required  for  the  con- 
scientious administration  of  the  holy  and  responsible 
office. 

''And  the  other  measure  I  advocate  is,  stop  starting 
new  congregations  where  a  congregation  is  already 
established,  unless  the  increasing  number  of  worship- 
ers requires  it.  Our  congregations,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, are  yet  young,  and  most  of  them  unable  to  pay 
a  salary  adequate  to  the  demands  and  cost  of  living. 
This  evil  can  only  be  remedied  if  the  number  of  con- 
tributing members  will  increase,  so  that  not  in  every 
nook  and  corner  of  every  little  town  a  new  congre- 
gation will  spring  into  existence. 

"I  myself  know  quite  well  that  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  ago,  when  the  tide  of  Jewish  immigration  began 
to  set  in  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  the  organization 
of  German,  Polish,  English  and  Portuguese  congrega- 
tions was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  various  na- 
tionalities, with  their  different  customs,  habits  and 
opinions,  which  had  landed  in  America.  They  then 
could  not  understand  each  other ;  they  could  not  agree 
together. 

"But  this  time  has  happily  passed  away.  Our  sons, 
born  in  America,  are  proud  of  the  title  of  Americans, 

90 


IN  PUBLIC  life;. 

and  do  not  trouble  themselves  whether  their  parents 
hail  from  Germany  or  France,  or  any  other  part  of 
Europe.  They  wish  to  be  Americans,  and  nothing  but 
Americans,  and  as  such  they  will  cling  and  work  to- 
gether. For  them,  for  their  future,  and  not  for  our 
foreign,  antiquated  notions,  we  are  bound  to  work. 
Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead,  and  let  us  foster  that 
harmony,  that  mutual  good  will,  that  forbearance  and 
indulgence  which  will  strengthen  our  congregations 
and  enable  them,  without  difficulty,  to.  accomplish  all 
the  noble  objects  we  must  have  in  view.  'In  union  is 
strength',  holds  good  not  only  for  the  seventy-two 
congregations  who  have  entered  into  the  new  cove- 
nant of  brotherhood  and  mutual  assistance,  but  for 
the  Israelites  of  every  town  and  city.  Mind  the  old 
motto — 'United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall' ! 

"I  would  close  my  remarks  if  I  had  not  to  allude  to 
a  rumor  contained  in  the  Deborah  of  last  week.  It 
says  that  another  Jewish  seminary  will  be  opened  in 
New  York.  We  hail  the  rumor  with  joy  and  sincere 
hopefulness.  Our  brethren  in  New  York  have  the 
means,  the  right  men  in  the  right  place,  the  grand 
public  institutions  at  their  command.  Why  should 
they  not  emulate  the  noble  example  set  by  their 
brethren  in  the  west  ?  There  is  plenty  of  room  in  our 
country  for  two  such  colleges,  and  before  ten  years 
will  have  elapsed  both  of  them  will  be  crowded.  There 
will  be  neither  jealousy  nor  rivalry.  Both  of  us  will 
work  for  one  and  the  same  common  good.  There  will 
be  competition,  perhaps ;  but  competition  is  not  only 
the  life  of  trade,  but  the  life  of  every  enterprise,  and 
will  result  but  to  the  good  of  the  community  at 
large.     .     .     ." 

In  the  meantime  Lilienthal  had  established  the  first 

91 


MAX    U  URN  THAI.. 

juvenile  journal  for  Jewish  children  in  this  country. 
He  was  always  deeply  interested  in  the  education  of 
children  and  he  had  felt  for  years  the  necessity  of  a 
paper  for  children  that  would  supplement  the  teaching 
in  the  religious  school.  He  established  such  a  paper 
single-handedly,  which  he  named  the  Sabbath  School 
Visitor.  The  first  number  of  this  journal  appeared 
January  22,  1874.  Dr.  Lilienthal  edited  the  paper  for 
eight  years  until  the  day  of  his  death.  He  wrote 
charmingly  for  children  and  the  paper  was  welcomed 
throughout  the  land  by  Jewish  children  everywhere. 

When  the  Hebrew  Union  College  was  opened  he 
served  not  only  as  a  member  of  the  governing  board 
of  the  institution,  where  his  wise  counsel  proved  of 
invaluable  assistance  during  the  formative  pioneer 
years  in  shaping  its  policy,  but  he  was  also  a  member 
of  the  faculty,  teaching  history  and  homiletics.  His 
name  is  connected  for  all  time  with  the  history  of  the 
college  and  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congre- 
gations. 

None  rejoiced  more  than  he  when  the  differences 
between  the  eastern  and  western  sections  of  reform 
Judaism  were  finally  healed  at  the  Convention  of  the 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  held  in 
New  York  in  1879,  the  beginning  of  the  reconcilia- 
tion having  been  laid  at  the  Milwaukee  meeting  in 
1878.  Then  it  was  that  the  great  reconciler  among  the 
American  rabbis  again  conceived  the  plan  of  a  rab- 
binical association,  which  would  combine  in  its  mem- 
bership all  the  rabbis  of  the  country.  He  agitated  the 
matter  in  May,  1878,  when  he  called  upon  his  brethren 
to  join  together  in  an  organization  whose  objects  were 
to  be  the  publication  of  a  Jewish  quarterly  and  a  union 
of  the  Jewish  ministers  of  the  country.    A  preliminary 

92 


IN   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

meeting  was  held  in  Milwaukee  in  July  of  that  year 
during  the  convention  of  the  Union  of  American  He- 
brew Congregations,  and  the  society  was  definitely 
organized  at  New  York  on  July  9,  1879,  under  the 
name  and  title  of  The  Rabbinical  Literary  Association. 
Dr.  Lilienthal,  its  founder,  was  elected  president.  Its 
objects  were  defined  to  be: 

"1.  The  association  shall  meet  periodically  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  current  religious  topics  of  Jew- 
ish theology  and  the  reading  of  essays  on  such  sub- 
jects as  may  be  selected  and  approved  at  each  pre- 
vious meeting  of  the  Literary  Committee. 

"2.  To  publish  a  periodical  devoted  to  the  object 
of  the  Association. 

"3.  Recommendation  to  the  Jewish  public  of  such 
books  for  schools  and  popular  use  as  the  Literary 
Committee  may  approve." 

In  writing  a  month  later^^  about  the  prospects  of 
the  organization,  its  founder  said: 

"The  prospects  for  the  young,  but  now  permanently 
organized  association  are  highly  favorable,  and  with 
God's  blessing,  will  accomplish  a  great  deal  of  good. 

"As  said  in  the  preamble  of  the  constitution,  it  will 
create  good  social  feelings  among  the  rabbis  and  min- 
isters of  the  country.  Instead  of  previous  acrimonies 
and  contentions,  a  spirit  of  brotherly  love  and  duty 
will  unite  them  for  a  hearty  cooperation  in  the  sacred 
cause  of  Jews  and  Judaism. 

"And  such  an  association  was  greatly  needed  for 
higher  and  more  important  purposes.  By  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congrega- 
tions   the   council    is    prevented    from    entering   into 

"  Israelite,  XXVI,  5,  4. 

93 


MAX    LIUliNTHAL,. 

theological  discussions.  The  constitution  wisely  in- 
tended to  preserve  the  autonomy  of  the  congregations. 

"But  these  questions  have  to  be  discussed  some- 
where, if  the  future  of  our  religion  shall  be  a  hopeful, 
a  brilliant  one.  Theory  and  practice,  life  and  law 
again  have  to  be  brought  into  harmony,  criticism  and 
science  threaten  to  make  inroads  into  religion ;  this 
difficulty  has  to  be  removed,  too.  Our  religion — a 
religion  of  light  and  truth — has  nothing  to  fear,  and 
first  of  all,  shall  be  enabled  to  face  the  various  an- 
tagonistic elements,  to  silence  atheism  and  pessimism 
and  to  do  justice  both  to  the  religious  element  and  the 
progressive  spirit  of  the  age. 

"This  association  will  try  to  perform  this  noble  and 
dutiful  task.  There  will  be  differences  of  opinion,  as 
they  have  prevailed  since  the  Talmudical  times  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai  and  their  successors.  But  the 
Talmud  already  has  said  noSH  in^n''  n'l3'''in  IlilD 
Opinions  will  be  exchanged,  the  burning  problems  will 
be  discussed  calmly  and  the  desired  result  will  be  at- 
tained. And  as  nobody  is  bound,  either  minister  or 
congregation,  to  act  according  to  these  decisions,  and 
here,  too,  the  autonomy  of  the  congregation  will  be 
respected,  a  scientific  basis  will  be  won,  upon  which  in 
course  of  time  the  temple  of  modern  Judaism  and 
modern  Jewish  theology  can  and  will  be  safely  reared. 
May  God,  the  guardian  of  Israel,  grant  the  young  insti- 
tution His  divine  blessing,  and  the  Union  of  American 
Hebrew  Congregations  and  the  Rabbinical  Literary 
Association,  working  hand  in  hand,  will  bring  an  era 
redounding  to  the  honor  of  Jews  and  Judaism." 

In  his  sermon  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  of  that 
year  he  referred  to  this  organization  in  the  following 
touching  manner : 

94 


IN   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

"I  hope  it  (the  Rabbinical  Literary  Association) 
shall  be  the  crowning  point  of  the  years  I  have  spent 
in  my  holy  and  responsible  office.  The  rabbis  and 
ministers  of  our  whole  country  have  agreed  to  meet 
once  every  year  to  discuss  earnestly  the  religious  ques- 
tions and  to  give  their  opinions  and  decisions.  It  is 
not  the  work  of  a  day  or  a  year ;  it  needs  earnest  and 
conscientious  study,  ample  investigation,  serious  and 
fraternal  discussions ;  and  with  the  assistance  of  God 
and  the  hearty  cooperation  of  our  coreligionists  we 
hope  in  the  course  of  time  to  accomplish  a  noble  and 
holy  work." 

He  did,  indeed,  devote  much  time  and  attention  to 
the  association  which  met  annually  during  the  remain- 
ing short  period  of  his  life.  He  edited  the  quarterly 
journal  issued  by  the  association  under  the  name  The 
Hebreiv  Reviezv.  He  published  a  number  of  articles 
in  this  review,  namely,  the  two  presidential  addresses 
and  the  articles  "The  Jew  a  Riddle"  and  "The  Blood 
Covenant". 

The  Reviezv  suspended  publication  after  his  death. 
Only  two  volumes  appeared.  In  speaking  of  his 
literary  work,  mention  must  be  made  also  of  several 
earlier  publications,  viz. :  his  translation  of  Hecht's 
Biblical  History''-  and  his  volume  of  poems,  "Freiheit, 
FrUhling  und  Liebe"^^ — a  collection  of  beautiful  lyrics 
elevated  in  feeling,  noble  in  thought  and  choice  in  ex- 
pression. 

Zealous  and  active  as  Dr.  Lilienthal  was  in  the  work 

"  Synofsis  of  the  History  of  the  Israelites  from  the  Time 
of  Alexander  the  Macedonian  to  the  Present  Age,  translated 
from  the  German  of  E.  Hecht — Enlarged  and  Improved  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal  (Cincinnati,  1858). 

'"  Cincinnati,  1857. 

95 


MAX    LILIRNTliAIv. 

of  rabbinical  conferences,  he  was  none  the  less  so  in 
serving  his  coreligionists  throughout  the  country 
whenever  called  upon  to  aid  in  celebrating  extraordi- 
nary events,  notably  the  laying  of  cornerstones  and 
the  dedication  of  new  houses  of  worship.  Mention 
may  be  made  of  a  number  of  such.  He  delivered  the 
address  at  the  cornerstone  laying  of  the  temple  at 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1864;  of 
Temple  Emanuel,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  June  16, 
1871  ;  of  Congregation  Shaare  Zedek,  Detroit,  Mich., 
July  4,  1877.  He  preached  the  sermon  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  Tiffereth  Israel  Congregation,  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
August  23,  1861  ;  of  the  temple  at  Madison,  Indiana, 
Sept.  4,  1868;  of  Anshe  Chesed  Congregation,  Vicks- 
burg.  Mississippi,  May  16,  1870;  of  the  temple  at 
Natchez,  Mississippi,  March  8,  1872 ;  of  Temple 
Emanuel,  Milwaukee,  August  30,  1872 ;  of  Congrega- 
tion Bene  Israel,  Keokuk,  Iowa,  July  20,  1877.  His 
services  were  also  in  extensive  demand  as  lecturer 
before  associations  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

But  possibly  the  most  striking  service  he  performed, 
a  service  quite  unique  in  his  day  and  generation,  al- 
though not  so  at  the  present  time,  was  his  frequent 
preaching  in  Christian  pulpits.  When  he  occupied  the 
pulpit  of  the  Unitarian  Church  at  Cincinnati  in  March, 
1867,  this  was  recorded  as  the  first  time  that  a  rabbi 
preached  from  a  non-Jewish  pulpit  in  this  country. 
He  performed  similar  functions  many  times  there- 
after. By  such  services  he  did  much  towards  fur- 
thering the  spirit  of  good  will  in  the  community  and 
bringing  to  Christians  a  better  understanding  of  Jews 
and  Judaism.  He  was  thus  a  veritable  messenger  of 
peace,  also  here  as  in  other  relations  of  life.  If,  as 
is    frequently  asserted,  the   Cincinnati  community   is 

96 


IN    PUBLIC   LIFE. 

marked  by  a  more  cordial  spirit  of  fellowship  between 
Jews  and  non-Jews  than  is  the  case  in  many  other  com- 
munities, this  is  largely  due  without  any  doubt  to  the 
work  of  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal.  He  himself  has  recorded 
the  reasons  that  induced  him  to  preach  from  non- Jew- 
ish pulpits.  In  the  year  1876,  he  journeyed  westward 
as  far  as  San  Francisco.  While  en  route  he  wrote  let- 
ters to  the  Israelite,  in  which  he  set  down  his  experi- 
ences. In  the  third  of  these  letters  entitled  "Our 
Brethren  in  the  West  and  in  San  Francisco",  he 
wrote : 

"I  could  not  decline  the  invitation  extended  to  me 
by  Rev.  E.  Rex  ford,  the  pastor  of  the  Unitarian 
Church  and  a  friend  of  mine  of  many  years  standing, 
to  preach  on  the  first  Sunday  evening  after  my  ar- 
rival before  his  congregation. 

"As  the  papers  advertised  "A  Jewish  Rabbi  in  a 
Christian  Pulpit",  and  this  being  something  new  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  the  building  was  literally  crowded ; 
neither  standing  nor  sitting  room  could  be  any  more 
obtained;  the  elite  of  the  Christians  thronged  the 
house. 

"I  always  cheerfully  seize  the  opportunity  of  stat- 
ing before  a  Christian  audience  the  sublime  doctrines 
of  our  religion.  To  Christians  they  are  a  'terra  in- 
cognita'. They  read  our  religious  papers  as  little  as 
we  read  theirs.  But  few  ever  visit  our  temples  and 
hear  there  our  doctrines  expounded.  The  greatest 
and  m.ost  advanced  modern  scholars,  even  a  Buckle, 
have  no  understanding  either  of  the  Jewish  religion 
or  Jewish  history,  and  the  old  prejudice  is  lurking  out 
from  every  loophole;  the  masses  in  general  hear 
Judaism  decried  so  much,  either  in  the  pulpit,  or  in 
the  Sunday  School,  that  a  fair  and  impartial  judgment 

97 


MAX   UUIvNTlIAL. 

can  scarcely  be  expected.  Hence,  I  always  seize  the 
opportunity  whenever  offered  to  preach  in  churches 
and  to  speak  on  Judaism  and  its  liberal  tendencies.  It 
is  true  that  'we  kept  our  light  too  long  under  the 
bushel',  and  when  in  past  times  we  found  a  proper  ex- 
cuse in  the  fact  that  we  did  not  dare  to  speak  without 
being  persecuted,  this  excuse  is  no  longer  valid  in  our 
age  of  free  inquiry  and  religious  liberty. 

"The  immense  audience  was  quite  startled  when  I 
told  them  that  in  our  city  it  is  nothing  new  and  sur- 
prising to  see  a  Jewish  rabbi  in  a  Christian  pulpit ;  that 
for  a  fortnight  I  had  filled  the  pulpit  in  the  Univer- 
salist  Church  by  the  request  and  in  the  absence  of  its 
minister,  Rev.  Spaulding,  and  that  many  a  time  I  had 
been  invited  to  officiate  at  Christian  funerals.  These 
introductory  remarks  were  received  with  loud  ap- 
plause, and  I  shall  never  forget  how  the  blind  man 
who  had  been  led  in  front  of  the  pulpit  and  had  there 
taken  his  seat,  stamped  with  his  cane  at  these  sur- 
prising remarks." 

He  touches  on  this  subject  also  in  a  letter  to  the 
Jezvish  Times,  New  York,  dated  January  10,  1870, 
when  writing  about  the  famous  Bible-in-the-schools 
controversy  which  was  agitating  the  community  at  that 
time ;   in  this  letter  he  says  : 

"The  debate,  going  on  here,  is  directed  more  to 
putting  our  religion  in  its  proper  light  before  the 
Christian  community,  to  dispelling  every  prejudice,  to 
ridiculing  every  sectarian  arrogance  and  promoting  a 
true  brotherly  feeling  of  mutual  respect  and  toleration 
among  the  various  creeds.  We  all  are  working  nicely 
in  this  direction  and  have  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied 
with  our  results.  The  Jewish  ministers  and  the  Jewish 
religion  are  respected  and  a  hearty  cooperation  of  the 

98 


IN  PUBLIC  ufe;. 

liberal  ministers  of  the  various  creeds  promises  a  rich 
harvest  of  peace  and  blessing." 

It  will  be  recalled  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  cele- 
bration of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Dr.  Lilien- 
thal's  ministry  in  the  Bene  Israel  congregation,  Dr. 
Wise,  in  his  address  had  stated  that  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Dr.  Lilienthal,  most  of  the  anti-Jewish  pre- 
judice had  been  eradicated  in  Cincinnati.  Perhaps 
this  never  appeared  to  finer  advantage  than  in  the 
address  he  delivered  at  a  concert  in  aid  of  a  Catholic 
institution,  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital,  in  October, 
1878.  The  golden  words  he  spoke  there  are  indicative 
of  the  fine  spirit  of  this  friend  of  his  kind  and  made 
clear  the  reason  why  he  was  held  in  such  high  esteem 
by  all  classes  in  the  community.  "Love  and  charity", 
said  he,  "are  the  celestial  means  which  unite  all  of  us 
in  one  band  of  noble  fraternity  ;  no  matter  what  creed, 
what  religion  we  profess.  On  that  platform  we  all 
proclaim  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
common  brotherhood  of  man.  About  two  subjects 
we  should  never  speak — religion  and  politics.  We 
should  leave  them  to  the  judgment  of  the  individual. 
For  every  man  is  entitled  to  his  opinion  and  every 
man  is  in  duty  bound  to  respect,  nay,  to  honor  the 
sincere  conviction  of  his  fellow  man.  But  while  on 
these  points  we  differ,  love  and  charity  are  the  most 
common  and  precious  jewels  of  the  human  heart;  the 
loving  heart  asks  neither  of  what  race  nor  of  what 
creed  we  are ;  it  loves  and  helps  and  assists,  like  our 
Heavenly  Father,  who  takes  care  of  all  His  children." 

In  view  of  his  attitude  as  evidenced  by  his  public 
utterances,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  was  honored  by 
his  fellow  citizens  on  many  occasions  and  placed  in 
positions  of  trust  and  responsibility.     He  was  elected 

99 


MAX    UURNTIIAL. 

a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  held  this 
ofilice  for  nine  years.  When,  upon  removing  from  the 
ward,  as  the  representative  of  which  he  had  served,  he 
resigned  his  position  in  1869,  a  committee  of  citizens 
waited  upon  him  and  presented  him  with  a  testimonial 
as  a  mark  of  their  appreciation  of  his  service.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Union  Board  of  High 
Schools  in  1861.  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati  in 
1872  and  served  in  this  capacity  till  the  day  of  his 
death  in  1882.  He  was  chosen  a  director  of  the  Relief 
Union,  the  pioneer  relief-giving  organization  of  Cin- 
cinnati in  1861  and  held  the  office  also  until  his  death. 
He  was  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Medical  College  in  1869  and  1870  and  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Saengerfest  which  was  held  in 
Cincinnati  in  1870.  He  delivered  addresses  on  many 
occasions  of  civic  importance  and  was  looked  upon  by 
all  classes  as  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  municipality's 
citizens.  The  service  he  rendered  in  this  respect  is 
incalculable.  His  voice  was  ever  raised  in  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  right.  Upon  all  possible  occasions  he 
spoke  lofty  words  in  which  he  dwelt  upon  the  spirit  of 
American  institutions.  Unafraid  and  dauntless,  he 
stood  forth  as  the  champion  of  religious  liberty  and 
political  equality.  Notably  did  this  appear  in  a  con- 
troversy on  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  schools, 
which  became  a  cause  celcbre,  and  in  his  frequent 
denunciation  of  attempts  to  effect  a  union  of  church 
and  state.  Never  did  he  speak  words  more  eloquent 
than  when  he  denounced  the  narrow  bigots  who  would 
undermine  the  foundations  whereon  to  his  mind  the 
republic  rested.    But  this  requires  a  chapter  of  its  own. 


100 


THE    AMERICAN    CITIZEN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    AMERICAN     CITIZEN — CHURCH     AND    STATE — THE 
BIBEE  IN  THE  SCHOOLS. 

Never  was  there  a  man  more  zealous  in  his  love  of 
America  and  all  that  this  country  represents  than  was 
Max  Lilienthal.  This  was  a  passion  with  him.  He 
abhorred  every  form  and  expression  of  intolerance 
whether  religious  or  civil ;  he  was  an  American  of  the 
Americans,  even  though  of  German  birth ;  time  and 
time  again  he  gave  expression  to  his  deep  feelings  and 
convictions  on  the  subject  of  religious  liberty.  He 
never  minced  his  words  when  the  occasion  arose  to 
denounce  movements  that  aimed  at  a  union  of  church 
and  state,  at  Christianizing  this  country,  or  the  public 
schools.  He  was  as  a  watchman  on  the  tower  of 
liberty,  calling  attention  to  dangers  that  threatened 
this  precious  stronghold.  Intense  in  his  Judaism  on 
the  one  hand  and  his  Americanism  on  the  other,  he 
embodied  the  loftiest  type  of  the  American  Jew.  The 
service  that  he  accomplished  in  making  clear  the  atti- 
tude of  the  American  Jew  was  great.  In  his  day,  as 
unfortunately  is  the  case  still  now,  there  were  many 
who  considered  the  Jew  an  alien ;  he  made  very  clear 
in  spoken  discourse  and  written  word  that  in  all  things 
except  his  religion,  the  Jew  was  like  unto  his  Christian 
fellow  citizen ;  that  he  is  actuated  by  the  same  love 
of  country,  the  same  enthusiasm  for  American  ideals ; 
that  America  is  his  fatherland  which  he  loves  as  he 
does    his    home.      Therefore,    as    has    already    been 

101 


MAX    I^IUKNTIIAL. 

pointed  out,  he  took  pains  to  declare  so  frequently  that 
Palestine,  precious  though  it  be  as  a  memory,  is  no 
longer  the  fatherland  of  the  Jew ;  had  he  lived  to  see 
the  day  of  the  birth  of  the  Zionistic  movement  whose 
program  is  the  reestablishment  of  a  Jewish  state  in 
Palestine,  how  he  would  have  opposed  and  fought 
this !  for  his  whole  life  had  been  devoted  to  teaching 
just  the  contrary ;  he  considered  the  Palestinian  period 
of  Jewish  history  the  preparatory  stage  for  the  larger 
life  of  Judaism  throughout  the  world;  he  considered 
the  dispersion  an  act  of  Providence  and  in  the  mod- 
ern era  of  freedom  and  emancipation,  notably  as 
achieved  in  the  United  States,  he  recognized  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fulfillment  of  the  high  hopes  of  the  seers 
for  the  coming  of  the  day  of  the  realization  among 
men  of  the  belief  in  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  common  brotherhood  of  men.  He  was  a  true 
prophet  of  humanity,  a  real  worker  for  peace,  good 
will  and  fellowship  among  all  men  of  whatever  origin 
or  belief,  whatever  race  or  creed.  Because  America 
to  his  mind  symbolized  this  high  doctrine  he  was  so 
jealous  of  America's  honor  as  the  home  of  true  liberty 
in  its  every  sense,  so  proud  of  his  American  citizen- 
ship, and  so  appreciative  of  his  American  opportuni- 
ties. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  first 
recorded  words  that  he  wrote  from  this  country  after 
his  arrival  here  were  a  panegyric  of  the  spirit  of  lib- 
erty reigning  on  these  shores ;  as  time  passed  he  be- 
came more  and  more  imbued  with  this  spirit ;  for  him 
Washington,  Jefiferson,  Adams  and  the  other  founders 
of  the  republic  became  names  to  conjure  with.  In  his 
dedication  sermon  at  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  on  May  20, 
1870,  he  said  of  them: 

102 


The   AMERICAN    CITIZEN. 

"The  true  prophets  and  apostles  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion were  these  God-inspired  men  who,  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  1776,  proclaimed  the  divine  principle  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  They  declared  church  and  state 
separated  forever.  They  proclaimed  the  self-evident 
truth  that  every  man  is  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and 
happiness ;  they  broke  the  chains  of  every  fettered 
race  and  class ;  and  America,  the  great  child  America, 
became  the  beacon  light  for  the  hopes  and  aspirations 
of  all  humanity.  O,  God  bless  America.  Heaven's 
best  reward  to  those  immortal  spirits,  Washington  and 
his  compeers,  who  first  asserted  man's  innate  rights 
and  titles  and  Israel's  lasting  gratitude  to  them  and 
their  descendants  for  ever  more." 

His  bitter  experiences  in  Russia  and  Germany,  where 
to  obtain  advancement  the  Jew  was  compelled  to  apos- 
tatize to  the  reigning  religion,  a  state  of  affairs  which 
even  after  the  lapse  of  seventy  years  still  holds  largely, 
caused  him  to  wax  eloquent  when  contrasting  the  con- 
ditions in  the  United  States  with  these  European  ex- 
periences. Thus,  in  an  address  delivered  at  the  first 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  during  his  New  York 
ministry  in  the  year  1847,  he  said : 

"What  wots  the  state  here  as  to  in  what  manner 
man  would  worship  his  God?  Let  each  one  believe 
and  confess  what  he  will ;  the  state  as  state  desires 
only  that  each  one  be  a  brave  and  useful  citizen. 

"Has  any  one  here  ever  said  to  you  as  in  Germany, 
you  must  first  become  better,  i.  e.,  you  must  first  be 
baptized  before  we  will  consider  you  men  and  citizens, 
before  we  will  give  you  freedom?  No,  never;  this 
country  and  its  law  rest  on  the  principle  that  man  is 
born  free ;    permit  him  the  full  use  of  his  powers. 


103 


MAX    UUENTIIAL. 

grant  him  the  ways  and  means  to  support  himself  and 
everyone  will  be  good  and  brave. 

"Thus  no  conditions  have  been  imposed  on  you  here ; 
no  reproaches  have  been  cast  in  your  teeth.  Here 
history  has  begun  anew  and  in  this  beginning  the  in- 
justices of  Europe  are  tniknown.  One  God  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  and  all  men  His  children — yes,  all  chil- 
dren of  His,  the  all-Merciful,  destined  for  the  same 
rights,  the  same  duties  and  the  same  enjoyments ;  this 
is  the  law  of  this  land,  the  shout  of  triumph,  the  paean 
of  victory  of  this  holiday — free,  free,  stand  we  here, 
my  brethren ;  have  we  then  not  sufficient  cause  to 
rejoice  on  this  day?  Let  us  strive  then  to  become 
worthy  of  this  day,  of  the  new  freedom,  the  new 
law.     .     . 

Nine  years  later  he  took  the  famous  editor,  Horace 
Greeley,  sharply  to  task  because  of  an  article  that  ap- 
peared in  the  New  York  Tribune  filled  with  gross  mis- 
representations concerning  the  Jews.  In  this  letter 
written  on  August  15,  1856,  Lilienthal,  then  rabbi  in 
Cincinnati,  expressed  himself  unreservedly  but  with 
fine  restraint,  in  these  lines : 

"Sir,  the  pretension  in  your  paper  that  we  are 
strangers  wherever  we  reside  is  false  and  untrue.  We 
are  true  citizens  of  this  great  and  glorious  republic, 
and  have,  ever  since  we  inhabitated  this  soil,  proved 
by  actions  that  we  are  true  Americans. 

"Sir,  we  are  no  strangers  wherever  we  reside.  The 
tombs  of  our  French  coreligionists  in  the  Crimea,  the 
orders  and  decorations  lavished  upon  our  brethren  by 
all  the  monarchs  of  Europe,  the  appointing  of  a  Jewish 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  and  many  other  examples 
show  and  prove  that  we  are  not  mere  hawkers,  but 
true  and  useful  citizens  of  every  country  in  which  we 

104 


THE    AMERICAN    CITIZEN. 

dwell.  We  are  Jews  in  religious  respect,  but  as  citi- 
zens we  are  as  true  and  devoted  to  our  country  as  any 
denomination  whatever." 

And  twelve  years  after  this,  in  his  address  at  the 
dedication  of  the  temple  at  Madison,  Indiana,  he  spoke 
in  similar  vein ;  the  spirit  is  the  same  though  the 
words  are  different. 

"Liberty  and  equality",  he  said,  "are  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  Mosaic  political  institutions. 
One  law  and  one  statute  shall  be  unto  you,  and  the 
stranger  who  lives  with  you.  No  monarchy,  no  priv- 
ileged aristocracy,  no  exempt  priesthood ;  all  are  equal 
before  the  majesty  of  the  law  and  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  courts.  These  are  the  teachings  of  Moses,  and 
which  country  proclaimed  these  principles  in  their  all- 
comprising  glory  but  our  America  ?  Which  set  of  men 
in  modern  times  realized  their  self-evident  truth  and 
importance  but  the  immortal  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence?  Hence  on  this  virgin  soil  of 
America,  there  was  no  emancipation  of  Jews,  no  bar- 
tering with  man's  innate  rights.  .  .  .  'Everyone 
is  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and  happiness'  was  their 
motto  and  their  influence  is  now  felt  all  over  the  old 
continent." 

For  him  there  could  be  no  question  concerning  the 
loyalty  of  the  Jew  to  his  country ;  the  statement  made 
in  his  address  at  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the 
Mound  Street  Temple,  Cincinnati,  and  repeated  sev- 
eral years  later  in  a  Thanksgiving  sermon  on  Novem- 
ber 24,  1870,  caused  quite  a  sensation  because  it  put 
the  matter  in  question  in  so  blunt  a  fashion.    He  said : 

"Let  us  then  be  proud  of  our  country,  our  flag,  our 
institutions  and  our  name.  Let  us  give  sincere  thanks 
that  we  all,  native  and  adopted  citizens,  can  join  in 

105 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

one  grand  chorus  of  praise  and  exultation.  Let  us 
promise  today  first  and  above  all,  we  will  be  and  re- 
main Americans  in  sentiment,  word  and  deed!  First 
Americans  and  then  Jews,  Catholics,  Protestants  or 
members  of  whatever  denomination  any  man  may 
choose,  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience!"^ 

Without  doubt  this  closing  paragraph,  "First  Ameri- 
cans, and  then  Jews,  Catholics,  Protestants",  etc.,  the 
paragraph  which  caused  the  excited  comment  was  in- 
spired by  the  agitation  aroused  at  that  time  by  various 
movements  in  the  country ;  the  Vatican  Council  of 
1869  which  had  set  its  seal  on  the  doctrine  of  papal 
infallibility  had  brought  to  the  fore  the  question  of 
the  priority  of  Catholic  allegiance,  whether  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  Pope  or  the  country?  Protestant  sec- 
taries were  doing  all  they  could  to  have  the  Protestant 
religion  recognized  as  the  religion  of  the  government ; 
if  not  so  recognized,  to  whom  then  was  the  Protestant's 
allegiance  due  in  the  first  instance,  the  church  or  the 
state?  Without  doubt  it  was  the  discussions  of  the  day 
that  caused  the  great  American  rabbi  to  express  him- 
self as  imequi vocally  as  he  did  upon  this  subject. 

In  an  address  on  "Rome  or  America?"  delivered  on 
January  28,  1870,  at  the  Plum  Street  Temple,  Cin- 
cinnati, and  called  forth  by  the  syllabus  issued  by  the 
Roman  See  in  1869  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
Vatican  Council  just  referred  to,  Dr.  Lilienthal  in  no 
uncertain  terms,  expressed  his  disapproval  of  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  the  dominance  of  the  church  in 
affairs  of  the  state,  and  contrasted  with  this  teaching 
the  American  doctrine  of  religious  liberty  when  he 
said : 

'Israelite,  XVII,  8  (Dec.  2,  1870). 

106 


THK    AMERICAN    CITIZIJN. 

"The  brightest  gem  in  the  American  diadem  is  re- 
ligious liberty.  All  denominations  without  any  dis- 
tinction have  flourished  and  finely  progressed  under 
this  divine  coat  of  arms.  The  American,  the  native 
nature's  nobleman,  is  tolerant  and  free  from  all  pre- 
judice by  the  very  air  he  breathes.  He  assents  with 
all  his  soul  and  heart  to  the  sacred  axiom  that  tolera- 
tion is  a  great  and  glorious  virtue;  but  history  re- 
minds him,  also,  that  it  ceases  to  be  virtue  when 
intolerance  raises  its  serpent  head  and  that  self- 
defense  then  becomes  a  virtue,  as  great  and  good  and 
imperative  as  toleration  itself. "- 

In  connection  with  this  answer  to  Catholic  teaching, 
mention  should  be  made  of  his  reply  to  a  Protestant 
clergyman,  the  Reverend  Henry  Moore,  who,  in  a  dis- 
course delivered  in  September,  1870,  and  entitled 
"The  Relation  of  the  Present  Affairs  in  Europe  to  the 
Prophetic  Scriptures  and  the  Coming  of  the  Son  of 
Man",  had  brushed  aside  all  Jewish  rights  to  be  heard 
on  the  subject  by  saying:  "Judaism  can  scarcely  be 
called  a  religion".  Dr.  Lilienthal  named  the  subject 
of  his  sermon  in  refutation  of  the  clergyman's  state- 
ment's "Is  Judaism  a  Religion?"  After  arraigning 
severely  Mr.  Moore's  unwarranted  charges  the  rabbi 
said: 

"Let  us  declare  again  that  we  do  not  wish  to  still 
more  embitter  the  ill  feeling  that  crops  out  between 
the  various  churches  by  engaging  in  religious  con- 
troversies. All  we  wish  and  hope  and  pray  for  is  to 
live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  all  our  fellow  citizens, 
no  matter  how  widely  they  may  difl:'er  from  our  re- 
ligious opinions ;    to  see  Judaism  as  much  respected 

'Israelite,  XVI,  9  (Feb.  4,  1870). 

107 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

as  any  other  denomination ;  and  that  the  equality 
which  is  granted  it  by  the  state  and  the  law  of  our 
blessed  country  may  also  be  fully  recognized  by  the 
votaries  of  the  various  churches."^ 

This  was  ever  his  attitude,  that  all  should  have  the 
right  to  believe  as  they  would  and  none  should  be  in- 
terfered with  in  the  pursuance  of  that  right.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  conviction,  he  formulated  his  defi- 
nition of  the  American  Jew — "  in  creed  a  monotheist, 
in  descent  a  Hebrew,  Israelite  or  Jew,  in  all  other  pub- 
lic or  private  relations  an  American  citizen".*  There- 
fore, at  the  dedication  of  the  Mound  Street  Temple, 
as  spokesman  for  his  congregation  and  all  American 
Jews  who  believed  with  him,  he  stated  the  political 
creed  of  the  American  Jew  thus  exaltedly :  "We  are 
promising  today  in  a  body  that  forever  we  shall  re- 
main true  to  the  sublime  spirit  of  our  constitution  as 
it  stands  and  reads.  We  shall  spare  no  effort  to  main- 
tain the  free  and  glorious  institutions  of  our  country. 
In  a  body  we  shall  resist  the  encroachment  of  any 
denomination  on  the  rights  and  titles  of  the  modern 
state  and  society.  .  .  .  Earnestly  and  sincerely 
we  promise  unanimously  to  support  any  measure  in- 
tended to  strengthen  the  institutions  bequeathed  unto 
us  by  the  noble  spirit  of  the  fathers  of  this  land, 
which  enjoins  upon  every  citizen  as  a  supreme  duty  to 
live  together  as  brethren  indeed  and  to  foster  that 
spirit  of  toleration  by  which  every  creed  being  treated 
by  all  with  unprejudiced  and  mutual  regard,  the  glory 
of  our  land  will  be  enhanced  all  over  the  world." 

It  has  become  very  clear  from  the  statements  here 
quoted  that  there  was  no  more  determined  or  out- 

'' Israelite,  XVII,  10  (Sept.  30,  1870). 
*  Jewish  Times,  5  (Dec.  10,  1869). 

108 


CHURCH    AND    STATE. 

Spoken  opponent  of  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  the 
union  of  church  and  state  than  Dr.  Lilienthal  in  the 
entire  country.  He  believed  with  all  the  fervor  of  his 
soul  that  this  was  the  root  of  all  political  evil.  He 
was  constantly  on  the  alert  for  any  sign  indicative  of 
the  introduction  of  this  evil  in  the  American  state. 
During  his  lifetime  Protestant  organizations  were  con- 
stantly active  in  the  attempts  to  foist  this  doctrine 
upon  the  American  people,  aye,  to  have  the  constitu- 
tion amended  so  as  to  have  Christianity  recognized  as 
the  state  religion.  Nor  have  these  attempts  died  out 
to  this  day.  Vigilance  still  remains  the  price  of  lib- 
erty. May  all  the  friends  of  American  religious  free- 
dom continue  as  constantly  vigilant  as  was  Max 
Lilienthal  in  his  day  and  generation ! 

The  state  of  North  Carolina  continued  on  its  statute 
books  the  law  disqualifying  Jews  from  public  office 
longer  than  any  state  in  the  union;  in  fact,  it  was  not 
until  1868  that  the  law  was  repealed.  Lilienthal,  to 
whose  notice  this  discriminating  statute  had  been 
called  in  1856,  asked  this  pertinent  query.  "Why  do 
our  brethren  living  in  that  state  not  take  immediate 
and  prompt  steps  to  have  this  clause  abolished?  It 
is  against  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  arid 
therefore  illegal.  We  deem  that  the  attention  of  the 
legislature  has  but  to  be  called  to  such  an  illegality 
and  that  it  will  be  removed  promptly.  It  is  a  holy 
duty  imposed  upon  all  our  brethren  to  efface  on  this 
soil  of  religious  and  civil  liberty  the  last  stain  of  intol- 
erance imported  in  past  times  from  illiberal  Europe.'"^ 

No  incident  involving  the  doctrine  of  the  separation 
of  church  and  state  and  religious  liberty  caused  greater 

'Israelite,  II,  404. 


109 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

commotion  among  the  Jews  in  the  sixth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century  than  the  celebrated  Mortara  case. 
Jews  in  Europe  and  America  were  aghast  at  this  re- 
crudescence of  medievaHsm.  The  governments  of  the 
world  were  appealed  to  against  this  wanton  violation 
of  religious  freedom  by  the  Papal  See.  Dr.  Lilienthal 
was  aroused  to  a  state  of  indignation  and  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  the  Jews  of  the  United  States: 

"The  forced  abduction  of  the  child  of  Mr.  Mortara 
in  Rome,  Italy,  by  order  of  the  Catholic  clergy  has 
created  throughout  the  civilized  world  a  cry  of  horror 
and  indignation.  Religious  liberty  is  set  at  naught  by 
the  fanaticism  of  the  Roman  Inquisition.  The  Is- 
raelites throughout  Europe  have  taken  energetic  meas- 
ures to  have  the  decision  of  Rome  revoked.  The 
Central  Consistory  of  France,  the  Board  of  Jewish 
Deputies  in  England,  the  Consistory  of  Sardinia  have 
addressed  their  respective  governments  on  behalf  of 
down-trodden  religious  liberty.  The  same  was  done 
by  the  Israelites  in  Germany.  Let  us  follow  their  ex- 
ample !  Call  meetings  in  all  your  congregations  !  Ad- 
dress remonstrances  and  petitions  to  our  government 
in  Washington  that  the  president  and  his  secretaries 
may  throw  their  influence,  too,  in  the  scale  of  this 
important  case.  We  rise  not  only  for  our  cause,  but 
for  one  of  the  highest  principles  of  our  enlightened  age 
— 'Religious  liberty  and  no  clerical  inquisition'." 

He  took  active  steps  in  his  own  community  in  the 
matter.  He  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  Jews  of 
Cincinnati,  and  pursuant  to  this  call  a  meeting  of  com- 
mittees appointed  by  all  the  congregations  of  the  city 
was  held  in  the  vestry  of  the  Broadway  synagog, 
October  30,  1858.  A  resolution  was  adopted  to  the 
effect  that  a  petition  be  drawn  up  which  was  to  be 

110 


CHURCH    AND    STATE. 

sent  to  the  Pope,  imploring  his  favorable  interfer- 
ence in  behalf  of  the  parents.  This  committee, 
consisting  of  Drs.  Lilienthal  and  Wise  and  Mr.  M. 
J.  Mack,  reported  at  an  adjourned  meeting  held  a  few 
days  later.  The  meeting  resolved  to  request  the  secre- 
tary of  state  to  forward  this  petition  to  the  agent  of 
the  United  States  minister  at  Rome  with  the  request 
to  hand  it  to  the  Pope.  The  petition  was  signed  by 
the  rabbis  and  the  officers  of  the  congregations. 

Mention  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the 
resolutions  offered  by  Dr.  Lilienthal  at  the  rabbinical 
conference  at  Cleveland  in  1870  adopted  by  that  body. 
The  fourth  and  fifth  of  these  resolutions  read: 

"Civil  and  religious  liberty  and  hence  the  separation 
of  church  and  state  are  the  inalienable  rights  of  men 
and  we  cherish  them  to  be  the  brightest  gems  in  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States."  "We  love  and 
revere  this  country  as  our  home  and  fatherland  for 
us  and  our  children ;  and  therefore  consider  it  our 
paramount  duty  to  sustain  and  support  the  govern- 
ment ;  to  favor  by  all  means  the  system  of  free  edu- 
cation, leaving  religious  instruction  to  the  care  of  the 
different  denominations." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Jewish  Times  of  New  York®  he 
states  the  reason  that  prompted  him  to  offer  these  reso- 
lutions :  "Rome,  by  her  syllabus,  her  encyclical  let- 
ters, her  endless  anathemas,  and  by  her  new  doctrine 
of  Papal  Infallibility,  has  laid  before  the  world  her 
program  and  the  religious  system  she  intends  to  teach 
and  to  enforce.  In  September  the  delegates  of  the 
various  Protestant  churches  will  meet  in  New  York 
to  form  an  evangelical  alliance,  and  to  lay  down  the 

'July  20,  1870,  p.  342. 

Ill 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

program  of  their  doctrines  and  the  system  of  their 
churcli.  In  the  midst  of  this  agitation  it  is  not  more 
than  right  that  we  also  give  a  declaration  of  both  our 
religious  and  political  principles,  and  to  set  our  religion 
and  ourselves  in  the  proper  light  before  the  Christian 
community,  in  order  to  be  properly  understood  and 
appreciated."  And  in  another  letter  to  the  same  paper 
dated  February  8,  1871,  he  states:  "I  foresaw^  the 
struggle  between  the  various  sects  and  denominations 
years  ago.  In  order  to  set  our  religion  in  the  proper 
light  before  the  American  people,  I  submitted  to  the 
conference  at  Cleveland  a  set  of  liberal  resolutions 
which  were  adopted  unanimously  and  copied  by  al- 
most all  the  papers  of  the  country.  I  feel  gratified 
that  the  Commissioner  of  Education  at  Washington 
has  them  inserted  in  his  annual  report,  lately  published 
(page  364).  Excuse  this  egotistical  remark;  you 
know  I  am  not  given  to  indulging  in  such  panegyrics, 
but  I  am  convinced  that  by  such  declarations  we  can 
accomplish  a  great  deal  more  than  by  wasting  time 
and  ink  and  paper  in  foul  and  useless  recriminations. 
It  is  indeed  t^^  nitTJ?^  ny."' 

A  resolution  introduced  at  a  minister's  conference 
held  in  Cincinnati  in  November,  1870,  to  petition  Con- 
gress to  insert  the  name  of  God  in  the  constitution  and 
to  declare  this  a  Christian  nation  induced  this  vigilant 
champion  of  American  principles  to  preach  a  sermon 
on  the  subject,  "God,  Religion  and  our  American  Con- 
stitution", on  December  10.  Perhaps  the  argument 
against  the  proposition  that  this  is  a  Christian  country 
has  never  been  more  cogently  put  than  in  this  sermon, 
so  that  the  portion  especially  pertinent  to  the  subject 

''Jewish  Times  (Feb.  17,  1871). 

112 


CHURCH    AND    STATE. 

in  hand  may  well  be  quoted  at  length.  The  preacher 
began  by  asking: 

"What  do  the  reverend  gentlemen  mean  and  intend 
by  inserting  the  name  of  God  into  our  constitution? 
Was  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  All  Nations  less  God  and 
Father  because  His  holy  name  was  not  mentioned  in 
that  holy  instrument?  Was  he  less  worshipped,  less 
revered  and  adored  by  the  American  people,  because 
the  fathers  of  1776  wisely  refrained  from  meddling 
with  religious  matters? 

"Yes,  what  do  they  mean  and  intend  by  trying  to 
declare  by  a  new  amendment  to  the  constitution  this 
nation  to  be  a  Christian  nation?     . 

"What  kind  of  a  Christian  nation  shall  this  people 
be,  according  to  the  desire  of  these  reverend  gentle- 
men, a  Catholic  or  a  Protestant  one?  Which  one? 
These  gentlemen  do  not  come  out  in  their  true  colors ; 
they  of  course  mean  a  Protestant  Christian  nation. 
They  have  as  yet  too  much  genuine  regard  for  the 
American  spirit  of  religious  liberty  that  they  shall 
come  forward  and  declare,  we  mean  a  Protestant 
Christian  nation.  But  do  not  they  by  this  assertion 
throw  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  Catholic  Church,  which 
ever  increases  in  power,  and  challenge  her  to  a  deadly 
combat?  Or  do  they  presume  to  avert  by  such  a 
declaration  the  dangers  they  fear  from  the  ever-in- 
creasing influence  of  the  Catholic  clergy?  Do  they 
pretend  to  put  a  check  on  the  formidable  growth  of 
that  Church  by  adding  such  an  amendment  to  the  con- 
stitution ? 

"They  will  accomplish  thereby  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other.  They  will  only  add  fuel  to  the  threatening 
fire  and  put  the  denominational  antagonists  into  a 
well-defined  array ;    they  will  thereby  only  drill  and 

113 


MAX   LIIvlENTHAL. 

prepare  them  for  a  contest  which  by  such  agitations 
will  rather  be  accelerated  than  avoided. 

''No,  my  friends,  an  old,  true  adage  says :  'Let  well 
enough  alone'.  Our  country  is  in  no  need  of  a  better 
name  than  free  America,  and  our  people  of  no  better 
name  than  that  of  an  American  nation.  There  is  glory 
enough  in  the  name  'I  am  an  American'.  There  is 
security  enough  against  all  threatening  dangers  in  our 
constitution.  It  will  protect  and  shield  us  against  all 
temporal  or  spiritual  intrigues  and  machinations.  Let 
us  not  wilfully  jeopardize  its  might  and  power,  its 
wise  and  well-meant  guarantees ;  let  us  cling  to  it  at 
any  price  as  it  reads  and  stands ;  let  us  hold  firmly  to 
the  entire  separation  of  church  and  state  and  our 
beloved  country  will  not  only  prosper  and  succeed  as 
heretofore,  but  will  always  lead  the  van  of  human 
liberty  and  civilization. 

"Religion,  or  rather  theology,  has  already  brought 
misery  enough  to  the  human  race.  Let  us  not  repeat 
again  the  terrible  lessons  taught  by  history.  Let  us 
not  be  ostentatious  and  vainglorious  with  our  creeds 
and  doctrines,  but  rather  remember  the  words  of  the 
prophet  who  defines  religion  with  true  divine  inspira- 
tion when  he  says :  'Man,  it  has  been  said  unto  thee 
what  is  good  and  what  the  Lord  requires  of  thee;  to 
do  justice,  to  practice  charity  and  to  walk  in  humility 
before  the  Lord  thy  God'.  May  we  be  ever  mindful 
of  this  sublime  teaching,  and  peace  and  good  will  shall 
reign  among  men  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  pros- 
perity of  mankind."* 

These  years  of  1870  and  1871  were  noted  for  the 
active  agitation  on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  the 

'Israelite,  XVII,  9  (Dec.  16,  1870). 
114 


CHURCH    AND    STATE. 

union  of  church  and  state,  and  it  was  during  these 
years,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  Dr.  Lilienthal 
fought  these  agitators  all  along  the  line.  He  seized 
all  opportunities  to  give  expression  to  his  views  and 
to  arouse  the  people.  In  addition  to  the  words  already 
quoted,  others  of  importance  may  be  given. 

In  his  address  at  Cincinnati  on  June  5,  1871,  as 
retiring  president  of  the  rabbinical  conference,  he  con- 
cluded with  these  words  of  admonition: 

"Let  us  not  forget  that  we  are  living  in  times  in 
which  the  religious  questions  in  general  will  play  a 
most  important  part.  We  hear  from  old  Europe  that 
state  and  church  are  preparing  themselves  for  a  fierce 
and  violent  struggle,  and  the  consequences  thereof  will 
finally  tell  even  in  our  country. 

"In  these  threatening  times  let  us  show  and  prove 
by  our  discussions  and  the  declaration  of  our  prin- 
ciples that  Judaism  is  in  favor  of  the  complete  and 
unbiased  separation  of  church  and  state  and  school ; 
that  Judaism  by  all  means  of  reform  tries  to  adapt 
itself  to  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age;  that  it  will 
always  be  found  on  the  side  of  those  who  stand  up  for 
the  unlimited  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty; 
and  that  it  considers  and  reveres  as  one  of  the  boons  of 
civilization  that  denominational  peace,  which  hereto- 
fore characterized  the  unequaled  growth  and  pros- 
perity of  our  young  and  God-blessed  country." 

How  passionately  he  felt  on  this  subject  appears  in 
the  comprehensive  letter  which  he  wrote  in  this  same 
year  (Feb.  17,  1871)  to  the  Jezvish  Times  under  the 
caption  "Church  and  State".  The  letter,  called  forth 
by  the  formation  in  Philadelphia  of  a  society  denomi- 
nating themselves  "The  National  Reformers"  whose 
purpose  was  to  have  Christianity  recognized  officially 

115 


MAX   IJLIENTIIAL. 

as  the  religion  of  the  country  and  to  have  the  consti- 
tution amended  to  this  effect,  is  of  such  importance 
that  although  somewhat  lengthy,  it  must  be  included 
here  almost  in  its  entirety.  The  eager  combatant  for 
the  principles  of  American  liberty  reviewed  the  critical 
situation  thus  fully : 

"This  new  party  tries  to  christianize  our  nation. 
The  clergy  who  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  move- 
ment are  no  longer  satisfied  with  the  proud  name  of 
'America  and  American  Nation' ;  no,  we  have  to  be 
called  hereafter  'Christian  Americans'  and  our  coun- 
try 'Christian  America' ! 

"Nice  times  these,  and  a  glorious  movement  this 
new  organization!  The  trouble  is  that  one  can  not 
reason  either  with  bigotry  or  fanaticism ;  and  that 
when  we  Jews  protest  against  this  nonsense  the  re- 
joinder is  made :  'No  wonder  that  the  Jews,  these  old 
Egyptian  petrified  infidels,  dislike  this  movement ;  they 
do  not  believe  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ'.  That  we  pro- 
test as  Americans,  or  as  a  race  that  more  than  all 
others  has  experienced  the  bitter  consequences  of  a 
union  between  church  and  state  and  like  to  warn  other 
people  not  to  revive  this  dangerous  experiment — this 
fact  you  can  not  demonstrate  to  these  modern  in- 
quisitors. For  they  are  neuromaniacs  in  this  regard 
and  with  such  men  both  reason  and  history  are  played 
out. 

"But  what  a  shame  to  America — no,  no,  I  mean  to 
say  to  such  degenerate  Americans  who  are  bent  upon 
degrading  and  disgracing  their  God-blessed  country  in 
the  eyes  of  all  the  world !  How  old,  monarchical  Europe 
must  laugh  in  her  sleeves  at  these  proceedings  in  the 
model  republic !  While  inquisitorial  Spain,  priest-rid- 
den Italy,  ultramontane  Austria,  and  Hengstenberg- 

116 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   SCHOOLS. 

Stahl-Prussia  proclaim  not  only  the  equality  of  all  citi- 
zens before  the  law,  but  the  entire  separation  of 
church  and  state;  while  one  after  another  adopts  the 
broad  principle  of  the  immortal  Count  di  Cavour, 
'Chiesa  libera  in  libera  stato' — 'A  free  church  in  a 
free  state',  Americans  are  not  ashamed  of  reviving  the 
old  exploded  union  and  of  recklessly  throwing  away 
the  brightest  gem  in  the  American  diadem,  the  price- 
less jewel  of  religious  liberty. 

"At  the  head  of  the  movement  in  the  state  of  Ohio 
is  the  Evangelical  Association  of  this  city.  About 
three  or  four  years  ago,  several  ministers  traveled 
on  one  of  the  Ohio  railroads.  Seriously  discussing 
the  state  of  religious  affairs  in  this  country,  they  re- 
solved upon  an  'aggressive  policy'.  Fearing  the  con- 
tinuous growth  of  the  Catholic  Church,  scared  by  her 
powerful  organization  and  concerted  action,  and  re- 
viewing the  numberless  sects  of  their  Protestant 
Church,  they  wished  to  counteract  the  growing  influ- 
ence of  Rome,  and  to  thwart  the  schemes  and  plots  of 
the  Jesuits. 

"No  course  would  have  been  more  natural,  in  order 
to  effect  this  aim,  than  to  cling  to  the  spirit  of  our 
constitution,  to  assert  and  to  maintain  at  any  price  the 
separation  of  church  and  state  and  to  oppose  'Roman 
Infallibility'  by  the  repeated  declaration  of  religious 
liberty.  All  pretensions  of  the  Roman  clergy  to  a 
division  of  the  school  fund,  to  donations  from  the 
public  treasury  for  the  support  of  sectarian  institu- 
tions, would  have  been  silenced  by  the  words,  'The 
state  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  church;  the  state 
ignores  her  altogether'. 

"But  instead  of  pursuing  this  wise  and  truly  Ameri- 
can policy  they  now  hit  upon  the  supreme  folly  of 

117 


MAX   LIUENTHAI,. 

christianizing  the  country  and  the  constitution.  By 
this  misstep  they  are  working  nicely  into  the  hands  of 
the  Jesuits.  It  is  the  same  mistake,  only  in  another 
shape  and  form,  which  they  committed  when  intro- 
ducing Catholic  rites  into  some  churches  of  the  Epis- 
copalians. The  Jesuits,  in  course  of  time,  would  have 
battered  such  a  breach  into  our  laws  anyhow ;  but  they 
must  feel  very  thankful  if  others  spare  them  the  trou- 
ble and  do  the  odious  work  for  them.  The  odium  and 
reproach  will  then  be  cast  on  other  shoulders  than 
theirs.     .     .     . 

"The  Catholics  are  arraying  themselves  under  the 
banner  of  the  new-fangled  'Papal  Infallibility' ;  and 
their  enormous  mass  meetings  protesting  against  the 
abolition  of  the  Pope's  temporal  power  show  and 
prove  that  they  are  well  organized  and  at  the  command 
of  their  clergy.  As  soon  as  peace  between  France  and 
Germany  will  have  been  declared,  we  shall  hear  of 
the  contest  to  be  fought  in  Europe  between  the  Roman 
Catholic  and  the  modern  state,  and  in  course  of  time 
we  shall  have  our  share  in  this,  our  inflammable  and 
excitable  country,  too. 

"On  the  other  side,  as  soon  as  the  Universal  Evan- 
gelical Association  will  convince  its  delegates  from 
Europe  and  America  in  New  York,  we  shall  undoubt- 
edly hear  of  a  kind  of  'Protestant  Infallibility'.  Re- 
ligious liberty,  the  right  of  conscience,  and  all  such 
other  modern  trash  will  be  entirely  ignored,  and  the 
clergy  and  their  hotspurred  church  members  will  vie 
with  each  other  to  outdo  themselves  in  religious  zeal 
and  bigotry.  It  will  become  fashionable  to  add  one's 
mite  to  the  general  agitation  and  the  numbers  of  the 
'legion  of  religious  honor'  will  be  increased  beyond 
calculation.    It  will  become  profitable  to  play  the  hypo- 

118 


THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    SCHOOLS. 

crite  and  to  don  the  prophet's  mantle;  intolerance, 
proselytism  and  all  other  such  theological  virtues  will 
be  preached  from  all  the  pulpits ;  the  missionaries  will 
be  in  their  highest  glee  and  reap  the  richest  harvest ; 
and  all  this  will  be  done  'to  the  glory  of  God  and  uni- 
versal love',  and  for  the  sake  of  vivifying  the  old 
word  'peace  and  good  will  to  all  men'.  You  recollect 
how  in  the  middle  ages  this  noble  word  was  translated 
into  the  sentence,  'Burn  the  body  and  save  the  soul'. 

"Still  I  do  not  like  to  play  the  part  of  'Cassandra'. 
I  have  too  much  faith  in  our  constitution,  in  the  sound 
common  sense  of  the  American  people,  in  their  justice 
and  pride  in  national  liberties,  that  they  will  ever  allow 
themselves  to  be  ruled  and  governed  by  any  class  of 
clergy. 

"But  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,  and  it  needs 
concerted  and  courageous  action  to  thwart  all  such 
nefarious  schemes.  If  the  right  men  in  the  right  place 
will  come  out  as  boldly  and  defiantly  as  the  clergy 
does ;  if,  disregarding  the  interests  of  parties  and  poli- 
ticians who  wish  to  buy  and  secure  votes  at  any  price, 
they  will  appeal  to  the  enlightened  sense  of  the  Amer- 
ican people,  the  timid  will  be  encouraged,  the  indif- 
ferent will  be  aroused  and  crowds  will  be  gathered  for 
the  support  of  American  right  and  liberty."^ 

And  in  an  address  on  the  same  subject  delivered  at 
Washington  the  following  May,  he  adjured  his  hear- 
ers : 

"Let  us  conclude  with  the  pertinent  remark  of  our 
president,  'Let  us  have  peace!'  not  only  political,  but 
also  denominational  peace!  Let  the  dead  past  of 
fanaticism  and  bigotry  bury  its  dead !    Let  ignorance 

'Jewish  Times,  804-5  (Feb.  17,  1871). 

119 


MAX    LIUENTITAL. 

and  superstition  be  dispelled  by  universal  and  free 
education !  And  'with  malice  to  none,  with  charity  to 
air,  with  love  and  justice  as  God  understands  it,  let  us 
lift  higher  and  higher  our  star-spangled  banner,  that  it 
may  float  in  all  its  heaven-born  glory  bringing  to  man- 
kind as  the  glorious  greeting  of  modern  redemption  the 
blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  1" 

It  was  during  this  same  period  that  the  famous  case 
of  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  was 
tried  in  the  courts  of  Ohio.  The  Cincinnati  school 
board  had  resolved  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in 
the  public  schools  should  be  dispensed  with.  A  citizen 
brought  suit  in  the  courts  against  the  school  board. 
The  courts  finally  sustained  the  board.  While  the  case 
was  being  tried,  great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  com- 
munity and  the  attention  of  the  entire  country  was 
fastened  upon  the  Cincinnati  episode.  In  this  city 
itself  passion  ran  high.  Public  meetings  were  held  by 
both  the  friends  and  the  opponents  of  the  school  board. 
As  may  well  be  supposed,  among  the  most  active  sup- 
porters of  the  school  board  was  Dr.  Lilienthal,  for 
whom  the  question  of  Bible  reading  in  the  public 
schools  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  larger  issue  of  the 
union  of  church  and  state.  Little  wonder,  therefore, 
that  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  for  keep- 
ing the  public  schools  free  from  all  church  affiliation. 
He  recognized  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the 
schools  was  merely  the  opening  wedge  for  the  Prot- 
estantizing of  the  schools.  In  an  address  delivered  at 
Mozart  Hall,  March  30,  1870,  during  the  exciting  in- 
terim that  elapsed  after  the  superior  court  had  decided 
against  the  school  board  and  the  case  was  pending  in 
the  supreme  court  of  the  state  to  which  the  school 
board  carried  it,  and  where  the  decision  sustaining  the 

120 


THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    SCHOOLS. 

board  in  its  right  to  suspend  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
in  the  schools  was  ultimately  rendered,  the  rabbi,  whose 
word  carried  great  weight  in  the  community,  said 
pointedly : 

"The  Catholics  denounce  the  public  schools  as  god- 
less and  the  hotbed  of  every  vice  and  apply  every 
opprobrious  epithet  to  them.  They  demand  a  division 
of  the  school  fund.  What  is  to  be  done?  Sectarian- 
ism must  be  removed  from  the  schools  in  order  that 
there  may  be  no  just  ground  left  for  this  demand. 
But  look  to  the  Protestant  side.  The  Protestants 
come  now  and  say  defiantly  that  this  is  a  Protestant 
country.  When  I  left  Europe  I  came  to  this  country 
because  I  believed  it  to  be  free,  the  God-blessed  coun- 
try of  all  the  world. 

"On  one  side  of  this  controversy  are  the  Protestants 
and  on  the  other  are  the  Catholics.  Where  in  heaven's 
name  are  the  Americans?  Of  course,  the  answer  from 
the  Protestants  will  be  *We  Protestants  are  the  Amer- 
icans, and  we  Americans  are  Protestants'.  I  do  not 
propose  to  answer  the  question  myself,  but  instead 
will  read  from  a  letter  written  by  Washington  in  May, 
1779,  addressed  to  the  United  Baptist  Churches  of 
Virginia : 

"  'If  I  could  have  entertained  the  slightest  appre- 
hension that  the  constitution  framed  in  convention 
where  I  had  the  honor  to  preside  might  possibly  in- 
jure the  rights  of  any  ecclesiastical  society,  certainly 
I  would  never  have  placed  my  signature  to  it,  and  if  I 
could  now  conceive  4:hat  the  general  government  might 
ever  be  so  administered  as  to  render  the  liberty  of 
conscience  insecure,  I  beg  you  will  be  persuaded  that 
no  one  would  be  more  zealous  than  myself  to  estab- 
lish effectual  barriers  against  the  horrors  of  spiritual 

121 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

tyranny  and  every  species  of  religious  persecution, 
for  you  doubtless  remember  tbat  I  have  often  ex- 
pressed my  sentiments  that  every  man  conducting 
himself  as  a  citizen  and  being  accountable  to  God 
alone  for  his  religious  opinions  ought  to  be  protected 
in  worshipping  the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  conscience'. 

"So  wrote  Washington.  Are  we  better  than  he 
was?  Are  we  wiser  than  he  was?  Obstinacy  is  no 
wisdom,  bigotry  is  no  justice,  fanaticism  is  no  right- 
eousness, and  anyone  who  unfolds  these  banners  will 
ruin  this  glorious  country." 

Some  months  previously,  May  20,  1870,  in  his  ser- 
mon at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple  at  Vicksburg, 
Miss.,  he  laid  down  what  he  considered  the  platform 
which  Jews  should  support  in  this  Bible-in-the-Schools 
controversy,  as  follows : 

"1.  Bible  or  no  Bible,  our  children  will  visit  the 
public  schools.  Our  Sabbath  schools  and  synagogs 
give  us  ample  room  and  time  to  impart  to  them  the 
required  religious  instruction. 

"2.  No  division  of  the  school  fund,  no  matter  un- 
der what  pretext  it  may  be  demanded. 

"3.  Not  a  single  penny  out  of  the  public  funds  for 
the  support  of  any  sectarian  institution,  be  it  for 
charitable  or  educational  purposes. 

"4.  No  union  of  state  and  church,  under  any  shape 
and  form  whatsoever. 

"These  principles  will  save  the  Union  and  restore 
the  denominational  peace  we  hav^  heretofore  enjoyed 
and  which  we  hope  will  be  continued  forevermore  on 
the  virgin  soil  of  American  happiness  and  liberty."^" 

^'Jewish  Times,  118.  213   (1870). 
122 


THE    BIBLK    IN    THE    SCHOOLS. 

And  finally  let  attention  be  called  to  the  impressive 
words  which  he  spoke  on  this  subject  before  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  of  Indiana  at  Muncie,  August 
19,  1873,  when  he  said  in  his  address  on  "Liberty  and 
Popular  Education" : 

"Our  free  schools  are  decried  and  defamed  as  god- 
less. This  is  the  stigma  with  which  they  are  branded 
and  derided.  'Stay  away  from  these  godless  institu- 
tions', is  the  warning  given  by  a  certain  class  of  papers 
and  reiterated  and  reechoed  by  thousands  of  voices. 

"Well,  we  shall  take  the  hint.  Efftcient  and  excel- 
lent as  our  schools  are,  we  shall  still  more  improve 
them.  Instead  of  being  godless,  an  assertion  which 
we  deny  in  toto,  -sve  shall  make  them  godful,  thor- 
oughly godful,  preeminently  and  essentially  godful. 
Of  course,  not  in  the  sense  in  which  our  opponents 
and  rivals  understand  this  word.  We  shall  not  make 
them  sectarian  in  order  to  please  this  or  that  class 
of  pious  votaries.  No,  we  shall  adhere  to  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  our  institutions,  in  the  full  separa- 
tion of  church  and  state.  We  shall  continue  to  use 
all  means  to  have  our  public  institutions  undisturbed 
and  not  permeated  by  sectarian  strife  and  bigoted 
narrow-mindedness.  ...  To  this  genuine  Amer- 
ican motto  'Separation  of  church  and  state,  entire  and 
complete',  to  this  motto,  which  is  now  going  to  be 
copied  almost  all  over  Europe,  we  hope  to  cling  to  the 
very  last.  Still  we  intend  to  make  our  schools,  our 
free  schools,  godful  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the  word. 
.  .  .  How  can  be  accomplish  this  noble  aim  and 
purpose?  When  besides  carrying  out  the  course  of 
study  prescribed  and  entrusted  to  your  care,  in  letter 
and  in  spirit  you  shall  imbue  into  the  minds  of  the 
youth  all  the  noble  principles  which  will  make  them 

123 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

moral  men,  good  citizens  and  useful  members  of  so- 
ciety. .  .  .  I<et  the  Sabbath  schools  of  every  de- 
nomination instruct  the  children  in  those  doctrines 
which  their  denomination  teaches  and  proclaims ;  this 
will  be  a  private  affair  with  which  we,  as  citizens,  have 
neither  the  right  nor  the  intention  to  interfere.  But 
in  our  schools,  where  our  youths  meet  as  American 
youths,  we  shall  try  to  inspire  them  with  the  principles 
which,  when  faithfully  carried  out,  will  find  favor  in 
the  eyes  of  God  and  man."^^ 

Thus  bravely,  fearlessly  and  constantly  did  this 
true  American  patriot  contend  for  the  principles  to 
which  he  was  devoted  with  all  his  heart  and  soul. 
Advocate  of  peace  among  all  men  and  notably  among 
the  followers  of  the  various  religious  denominations 
though  he  was,  yet  he  never  permitted  his  desire  for 
peace  to  becloud  the  issue  when  underlying  principles 
of  liberty  were  at  stake.  And  his  great  services  in 
this  cause  will  never  be  forgotten.  Among  the  great 
Jewish  leaders  of  his  time  he  was  particularly  known 
for  this  note  in  his  preaching  and  teaching. 

No  occasion  of  importance  was  permitted  to  pass 
by  him  without  being  used  to  adorn  the  tale  of  patriot- 
ism. During  the  crucial  months  immediately  preced- 
ing the  Civil  War,  he  preached  a  number  of  sermons 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Union ;  in  these  sermons 
he  deprecated  the  differences  between  the  North  and 
the  South  and  urged  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the 
continuation  of  peaceful  relations  between  the  two 
sections  of  the  country.  At  the  close  of  the  war  and 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln  he  delivered  two  notable  addresses  which  are 

"Israelite,  XIX,  2  (September  19,  1873). 

124 


THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    SCHOOES. 

included  among  his  writings  in  the  latter  half  of  this 
volume.  And  after  the  war  when  conditions  in  the 
South  were  so  appalling  he  delivered  a  strong  appeal 
entitled  "Relief  for  the  South",  in  which  he  urged  his 
people  to  come  forward  and  help  bind  up  the  wounds 
which  the  terrible  years  of  war  and  bloodshed  had 
made.  Throughout  his  life  he  rose  to  every  occasion 
when  love  of  country  required  a  spokesman.  He 
never  faltered  nor  hesitated  when  he  thought  that 
cherished  liberties  were  endangered.  For  him  America 
was  the  new  Promised  Land  where  Israel  had  found 
a  home  after  medieval  oppression  even  as  in  the 
ancient  time  it  had  found  a  home  in  Palestine,  the 
Promised  Land  of  old,  after  Egyptian  oppression. 
His  entire  career  was  devoted  to  expounding  this  doc- 
trine; his  words  quoted  throughout  this  chapter  and 
the  many  more  not  included  were  a  commentary  upon 
this  text  which  he  put  in  many  ways,  but  in  none  more 
succinctly  than  when  in  the  Washington  discourse  on 
church  and  state  he  said :  "We  have  given  up  all 
ideas  of  ever  returning  to  Palestine  and  establishing 
there  an  independent  nationality.  All  our  affections 
belong  to  this  country  which  we  love  and  revere  as 
our  home  and  the  home  of  our  children."  This  was 
the  ideal  he  ever  held  before  him ;  American  rabbi 
was  he  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  interpreting  the 
teachings  of  prophetic  Judaism  in  the  terms  of  Amer- 
ican aspiration,  and  glorifying  the  Jewish  name  and 
Jewish  truth  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  people.  Thus 
served  he  his  God,  his  country  and  his  fellowmen, 
and  his  name  is  recorded  high  on  the  register  of  those 
who  throughout  the  ages  fought  the  brave  fight  for 
liberty,  right  and  truth. 


125 


MAX    LIUE:nTHAL. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TPiE  CLOSING  ye;ars. 

The  closing  years  of  Lilienthal's  life  were  saddened 
by  the  appearance  of  anti-Semitism  in  Germany  and 
the  anti- Jewish  excesses  in  Russia  which  brought  to 
these  shores  the  thousands  of  unhappy  creatures  who 
had  been  driven  from  the  realm  of  the  czar  by  the 
enactment  of  new  measures  of  repression  and  the  re- 
enforcement  of  old  laws  which  had  been  in  abeyance 
during  the  reign  of  Alexander  II,  the  Liberator  Czar. 
Often  during  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  did  the 
writer,  who  at  that  time  was  a  pupil  of  the  great  rabbi, 
hear  him  discuss  in  disheartened  tones  the  latter-day 
events  in  the  history  of  his  coreligionists.  The  Rus- 
sian horrors  carried  his  thoughts  back  to  the  days  of 
his  early  career  in  Russia  and  seemed  to  emphasize 
the  hopelessness  of  the  Jewish  situation  in  that  land. 
The  phrase  of  Koheleth  was  frequently  on  his  lips, 
"Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity !"  All  his  high  hopes 
so  frequently  expressed  in  glowing  terms  of  brother- 
hood and  humanity  and  so  ardently  worked  for  dur- 
ing his  toilsome  American  career  of  well-nigh  four 
decades,  seemed  crumbling  into  dust.  The  death  in 
February,  1882,  of  Berthold  Auerbach,  the  great 
German  novelist,  which  was  hastened,  if  not  caused, 
by  the  anti-Semitic  outbreaks  in  Germany,  depressed 
his  greatly.  Auerbach,  like  Lilienthal,  had  been  a 
modern  prophet  of  humanity  and  had  written  and 
worked  in  the  cause  of  the  better  understanding  and 

126 


THE   CLOSING   YE;aRS. 

the  closer  affiliation  with  one  another  of  men  of  all 
creeds  and  nationalities.  A  despairing  note  was  now 
heard  in  his  preaching-  which  formerly  was  charac- 
terized by  optimism.  Still,  despite  the  clouds  that 
darkened  the  horizon,  he  still  hoped  for  better  things 
when  the  temporary  aberration  would  have  passed. 
In  an  essay  which  appeared  shortly  before  his  death, 
entitled  "The  Jew  a  Riddle",  and  which  in  all  likeli- 
hood was  the  last  thing  he  wrote,  he  dwelt  upon  the 
new  anti-Jewish  crusade,  but  expressed  his  faith  in 
the  coming  of  a  better  day.     In  that  essay  he  wrote: 

"But  this  storm  will  pass  away.  The  Jew  knows  it. 
During  the  eighteen  centuries  of  his  wandering,  he 
the  riddle,  the  living  mummy,  as  he  is  nicknamed,  has 
learned  how  'to  labor  and  to  wait'.  He  will  wisely 
use  the  interim  to  adapt  himself  to  altered  conditions 
and  circumstances.  And  he  will  succeed,  for  adapt- 
ability is  one  of  his  recognized  characteristics.  He 
will  throw  off  the  stained  rags  of  the  pariah  and  don 
the  toga  of  the  free  citizen,  of  the  free  man,  in  the 
noble  and  proud  sense  of  the  word.  He  will  never 
surrender  his  abiding  faith  in  a  better  future  of  the 
human  race.  He  will  still  hope  and  trust  that  the  time 
must  come  in  which  the  doctrine  of  the  common 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  of  the  common  brotherhood 
of  man  will  not  be  barren  phraseology,  uttered  either 
in  the  pulpit  or  the  forum,  but  will  become  a  stern 
reality,  an  undoubted  matter  of  fact.  Then  racial 
antipathy,  racial  persecution,  will  be  either  ridiculed 
as  a  nightmare  or  be  pitied  as  temporary  insanity!"^ 

With  these  high  words  of  hope  of  a  better  future 
ringing  in  our  ears  we  might  well  take  leave  of  this 

'  Hebrew  Review,  II,  128. 

127 


MAX    ULIENTHAL. 

lofty  Spirit,  this  friend  of  humanity,  this  disciple  of 
the  prophets,  this  friend  of  peace. 

If  a  few  pages  more  are  now  added  it  is  with  the 
purpose  that  the  remaining  paragraphs  of  this  sketch, 
offered  as  a  loving  tribute  by  the  writer  to  the  memory 
of  his  inspiring  teacher,  his  never-to-be-forgotten 
friend  and  famed  predecessor  in  the  pulpit,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  forthcoming  centenary  of  his  birth, 
may  be  devoted  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the  out- 
standing traits  that  made  him  what  he  was. 

As  has  appeared  time  and  again  in  the  preceding 
pages.  Dr.  Lilienthal  was  animated  throughout  his 
life  by  the  peace  motive.  He  had  a  fine  knowledge  of 
men.  He  knew  that  in  life  there  must  be  give  and 
take  if  anything  is  to  be  accomplished.  This  was  the 
statesmanlike  quality  in  his  makeup.  He  felt  that 
men  had  to  be  taken  as  they  are,  not  as  he  would  have 
had  them  be.  For  this  reason  those  who  did  not  un- 
derstand him  accused  him  of  compromising,  of  hypoc- 
risy and  of  time  serving.  When  in  Russia  in  his  de- 
sire to  gain  the  support  of  the  ultraorthodox  Jews  and 
of  the  Chassidim  for  the  high  aim  towards  which  he 
was  striving,  he  observed  rites  and  customs  with  which 
he  was  known  to  be  at  variance  in  his  thought,  he  was 
denounced  as  a  hypocrite  by  his  enemies ;  but  the 
truth  of  the  matter  was  that  he  considered  such  a 
concession  as  of  slight  importance  when  compared 
with  the  large  end  in  view,  namely,  the  obtaining  of 
the  sympathy  of  this  great  section  of  Russian  Jewry 
for  the  educational  work  proposed.  So  also  time  and 
again  in  this  country  he  was  accused  of  being  a  com- 
promiser on  the  one  hand  by  the  reformers  who  made 
a  fetish  of  consistency,  and  on  the  other  by  orthodox 
irreconcilables  who  would  not  have  a  jot  or  tittle  of 

128 


THE   CLOSING   YEARS. 

inherited  ceremonies  and  customs  changed.  Being  a 
man  of  great  insight  and  wisdom,  he  recognized 
that  practical  reforms  can  be  accomplished  effectively 
by  an  accommodation  to  the  changing  circumstances 
of  time  and  place.  He  knew  full  well  that  neither 
life  nor  history  move  in  a  straight  line  and  that  the 
greatest  victories  for  progress  are  frequently  gained 
by  a  rounding  of  difficulties  and  obstacles  by  circuitous 
routes.  But  when  a  matter  of  real  principle  was  in- 
volved he  showed  time  and  again  that  he  could  be 
firm  as  a  rock ;  his  departure  from  Russia  relinquish- 
ing a  great  future  proved  this  to  the  full ;  his  defense 
of  the  reform  movement  against  his  doughty  antag- 
onist, the  Rev.  Isaac  Leeser,  and  his  constant  struggle 
as  detailed  in  the  preceding  pages  against  the  forces 
of  religious  bigotry  in  their  onslaught  on  the  integrity 
of  American  institutions  bear  testimony  to  his  con- 
sistency when  high  principle  was  at  stake. 

Throughout  his  career  he  aimed  to  smooth  the 
rough  waters  of  controversy  and  dissension.  For  this 
reason  he  was  called  so  frequently  even  during  his 
lifetime  "the  prince  of  peace".  He  was  distressed  by 
the  factious  differences  that  divided  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry  into  warring  groups.  He  used  his  best 
offices  to  remove  these  differences.  More  than  this 
could  no  man  do.  He  was  truly  one  of  the  disciples 
of  Aaron,  loving  peace  and  pursuing  peace.  It  oc- 
casions little  surprise,  therefore,  that  he  considered 
his  success  in  forming  the  literary  rabbinical  associa- 
tion which  included  in  its  membership  men  who  had 
been  bitterly  antagonistic  to  one  another  as  the  crown- 
ing achievement  of  his  life.  He  lived  to  see  the  breach 
repaired ;  under  his  gentle  and  calming  guidance  the 
rabbis  of  the  east  and  west  met  in  conference  and 

129 


MAX    UUENTIIAL,. 

arbitrated  their  differences.  The  Rabbinical  Literary 
Association,  which  did  not  survive  its  founder,  antici- 
pated by  nine  years  the  foundation  of  the  Central 
Conference  of  American  Rabbis,  which,  comprising 
as  it  does  in  its  membership  well-nigh  every  reform 
rabbi  of  the  country,  realizes  fully  the  purposes  of 
the  first  great  reconciler  among  the  rabbis  of  this 
country. 

For  thirty-seven  years  he  worked  in  this  spirit  of 
peace  and  reconciliation  in  the  land  of  his  love  and 
adoption.  This  is  his  greatest  claim  to  fame  and  to 
the  gratitude  of  his  coreligionists  and  his  fellow 
countrymen. 

When  the  last  hour  of  his  earthly  life  struck  on 
April  5,  1882,  his  place  in  American  Jewry's  hall  of 
fame  was  secure.  As  Jewish  leader  and  as  American 
patriot  he  had  toiled  untiringly  and  unselfishly.  He 
had  spoken  golden  words  of  eternal  truth  on  many 
an  important  occasion.  In  appearance  every  inch  the 
leader,  he  had  gone  in  and  out  among  his  people,  a 
messenger  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  Four  weeks  after 
his  demise  a  service  was  held  in  the  religious  home  he 
loved  so  well,  the  temple  of  the  congregation,  at  which 
sincere  tributes  of  appreciation  were  spoken  by  his 
life-long  friend  and  coworker,  Isaac  M.  Wise,  and 
other  leaders  in  American  Jewry,  Rabbis  Henry  S. 
Jacobs  and  Jacob  Voorsanger,  as  well  as  by  two  of 
Ohio's  greatest  citizens.  General  Jacob  D.  Cox  and 
Judge  J.  B.  Stallo.  The  eloquent  words  with  which 
the  latter  closed  his  oration  characterize  finely  the 
outlook  of  the  lofty  spirit  whom  he  was  eulogizing: 
"His  longing  was  for  the  future,  not  for  the  past. 
'Forward  and  upward'  was  his  motto.  His  Messiah 
was  not  a  single  man,  but  reason  and  its  fine  effects. 

130 


THE  CLOSING  YEARS. 

His  promised  country  was  not  one  narrow  speck  of 
earth,  but  the  whole  broad  universe.  His  brethren 
were  not  only  those  to  whose  race  he  belonged — every 
one  who  furthered  the  aims  of  humanity  was  his 
brother  and  friend.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  we  meet 
here,  one  great  brotherhood  to  mourn  the  loss  of  a 
dearly  beloved  brother.  I  can  best  close  with  the 
fervent  hope  that  his  spirit  may  continue  in  his  people 
forever  and  aye.  Then  will  be  verified  the  words  of 
Goethe  in  his  Tasso  that  'the  place  where  a  great  man 
has  lived  remains  a  fruitful  seed  for  all  generations'." 

One  hundred  years  have  passed  since  Max  Lilien- 
thal  first  saw  the  light  of  day.  During  that  century 
the  spirit  of  freedom  has  won  great  victories.  De- 
spite occasional  relapses  the  progress  achieved  in  the 
cause  of  liberty  is  very  marked.  Freedom  was  the 
breath  of  Lilienthal's  nostrils.  He  was  a  true  apostle 
of  liberty.  Aristocratic  in  thought  and  bearing,  he 
was  democratic  in  life  and  principle.  America  em- 
bodied for  him  the  hope  of  humanity.  The  uphold- 
ing of  American  principles  was  a  passion  with  him. 
American  Judaism,  combining  loyalty  to  the  high 
teachings  of  Judaism  with  fealty  to  the  basic  institu- 
tions of  American  liberty,  and  the  high  hopes  for  a 
united  humanity,  represented  for  him  the  flower  of 
the  endeavor  of  the  ages.  In  inspired  mood  he  at 
one  time  defined  this  ideal  in  words  that  glow  with 
loyalty  to  a  great  past  and  hope  for  a  glorious  future. 

"Resting  with  its  roots  in  deep  antiquity,"  so  run 
his  words,  "it  still  branches  forth  like  a  sound,  healthy 
oak  tree.  It  tries  to  adapt  itself  to  the  advanced  ideas 
of  the  age,  to  become  reconciled  with  the  results  of 
science,  and,  without  surrendering  its  special  charac- 
teristics,  to  preach   humanity   instead   of   racial   an- 

131 


MAX    UIvIENTHAI.. 

tipatliy,  reason  instead  of  blind  faith,  the  living  spirit 
instead  of  the  dead  letter. 

"It  has  inscribed  on  its  banner  the  glorious  words 
of  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  common 
brotherhood  of  man  and  believes  In  hoc  signo  vinces. 
With  Catholic  and  Protestant,  with  Mohammedan  and 
Buddhist,  it  hopes  and  waits  for  that  kingdom  of 
heaven  on  earth  in  which  the  redemption  of  the  human 
family  will  become  a  blessed  reality,  so  that  virtue 
and  justice  and  unsectarian  brotherly  love  may  reign 
supreme,  and  evil  and  hatred  may  be  numbered  among 
the  things  of  the  past."^ 

^Hebrew  Review,  II,  133. 


132 


WRITINGS. 


FAMILY  LETTERS. 


famii^y  i,e;tte;rs. 


FAMILY  LETTERS.^ 

I. 

{To  his  Father) 

St.  Petersburg,  Oct.  25,  1839. 

Dear  Father  and  all  of  you,  my  beloved ! 

I  am  weeping  tears,  tears  of  deepest,  inexpressible 
longing  while  I  write  you  these  lines  which  are  to 
inform  you  of  my  arrival  here.  Baron  Falkenberg 
promises  to  see  that  the  letter  reaches  its  destination 
and  I  have  only  a  short  half  hour  before  the  Sabbath 
in  which  to  write  to  you.  O  my  beloved,  I  saw  much, 
very  much  on  my  journey:  Halle,  Madgeburg,  Ham- 
burg, Liibeck,  the  sea  (the  dreadful  seasickness  had 
me  in  its  grip  a  whole  day),  those  colossal  steamers; 
Kronstadt,  large  and  glorious;  but  St.  Petersburg! 
this  exceeds  all  expectations.  A  city  five  miles  in  cir- 
cumference— nothing  but  palaces — surely  this  is  to  be 
seen  nowhere  else.  Whoever  has  not  seen  St.  Peters- 
burg has  not  seen  the  world.    Another  city  may  have 

^  These  very  interesting  letters  (some  in  German,  others 
in  French)  written  from  Russia  by  Dr.  Lilienthal  to  mem- 
bers of  his  family  are  now  published  for  the  first  time.  They 
have  been  placed  at  my  disposal  by  the  children  of  Dr.  Lilien- 
thal. In  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  letters  contain  passages 
which  are  of  too  intimate  a  character  for  the  public  eye. 
Hence  only  such  portions  of  the  letters  have  been  selected 
as  were  felt  to  be  of  public  interest. — D.  P. 

133 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

possibly  more  people,  but  not  more  magnificence  and 
beauty.  But  to  the  matter  in  hand !  Baron  Falken- 
berg  has  received  me  in  the  most  friendly  manner. 
Dear  father,  please  express  to  his  sister  my  heartiest 
thanks  for  the  kindly  reception.  The  Minister  Ler- 
chenf eld  received  me  with  uncommon  heartiness ;  he 
went  personally  to  the  Minister  Uwaroff  and  secured 
an  audience  for  me  for  next  Sunday  at  twelve  o'clock. 
A  parade  takes  place  tomorrow  which  I  want  to  see; 
it  consists  of  the  regiments  which  are  quartered  here, 
containing  as  many  soldiers  as  the  whole  Bavarian 
army ;  it  numbers  60,000  men.  From  Riga  you  shall 
receive  a  four-paged  letter  which  will  tell  you  fully 
about  Philippson,  Salomon,  Kley,  Steinheim,  Altona, 
etc.  Fare  ye  well,  and  remember  in  love  him  who 
has  been  starving  for  eight  days,  but  whose  heart  is 
nevertheless  full ;  full  of  love  for  you ;  to  attest  this 
every  hour  will  be  the  effort  of 

Yours  affectionately. 

Dr.  Max  Lilienthal. 

II. 

{To  the  Same) 

St.  Petersburg,  Nov.  1,  1839. 
Dear  Father: 

I  have  written  an  explicit  letter  of  three  pages  on 
a  most  important  subject.  I  hope  this  letter  will  be  in 
your  hands  in  fourteen  days  at  the  latest.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  present  letter  is  to  ask  you  to  go  to  Baron 
Maltitz  and  to  request  him  to  furnish  me  with  another 
copy  of  the  legalized  testimonial  which  he  was  so  good 
as  to  give  me.     I  had  to  deliver  the  one  I  had  to  the 

134 


FAMII.Y   LETTERS. 

authorities  here ;  I  will  experience  some  obstacles  in 
Riga,  where  I  am  to  settle,  unless  I  receive  the  testi- 
monial from  you  by  return  of  post.  Will  you  be  so 
good  as  to  address  it  to  Benjamin  Nachman,  in  Riga, 
since  I  must  remain  here  perhaps  three  weeks  longer 
because  Uwaroff  left  for  Warsaw  on  the  day  of  my 
arrival  here?  You  can  not  imagine  how  this  informa- 
tion grieved  me,  otherwise  everything  would  have 
progressed  so  favorably.  Lerchenfeld  had  promised 
to  secure  me  the  audience  all  in  vain.     .     .     . 

I  will  remain  here,  therefore,  fourteen  days  longer; 
in  the  meantime  I  hope  that  you  will  surely  attend  to 
the  matter  of  securing  the  testimonial  for  me.  I  have 
received  two  letters  from  the  Riga  people ;  in  the  one 
they  sent  me  50  R.  T.  additional ;  in  the  other  they 
informed  me  of  the  departure  of  their  communal 
representative  Ilgisch,  who  is  to  welcome  me  in  their 
name  and  be  helpful  to  me  here  in  all  things.  The 
Jews  of  Riga  have  still  a  hard  contest  with  the  city 
as  an  inhabitant  of  Riga  who  happened  to  be  here 
told  me ;  still  they  have  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
Count  Stroganoff,  on  their  side.  The  school  building 
is  situated  in  the  center  of  the  city ;  it  consists  of 
eleven  rooms,  five  of  which  are  intended  for  me  and 
are  already  furnished.  I  hear  the  rabbi  will  be  dis- 
missed and  his  functions  will  be  delegated  to  me  per- 
haps already  during  this  winter,  so  that  I  will  be  a 
rabbi  before  many  Bavarian  candidates.  Meanwhile, 
with  God's  help,  this  will  be  only  the  first  step,  al- 
though the  Jews  here  are  still  backward  and  oppressed. 
I  am  boarding  now  in  the  house  of  a  soldier's  wife, 
since  such  have  all  privileges  here.  I  am  thus  freed 
from  my  former  dreadful  state.  I  hope  to  officiate 
at  the  marriage  of  six  couples  in  Riga  this  winter. 

135 


MAX    LIUlJNTHAIv. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  get  away  from  here,  for  this 
dreadful  excitement  robs  one  of  all  deliberation,  and 
after  all,  St.  Petersburg  is  not  the  place  of  my  desti- 
nation. Yesterday  I  viewed  a  parade  of  sixty  thou- 
sand men,  twelve  regiments,  thirty-six  thousand  in- 
fantry, two  regiments  of  cuirassiers,  one  regiment  of 
dragoons,  one  regiment  of  horse  guards,  one  regiment 
of  hussars,  one  regiment  of  uhlans,  three  companies 
of  Cossacks,  three  hundred  Circassians  with  bows, 
arrows  and  armor,  one  regiment  of  pontoon  builders 
on  horseback  and  perhaps  eighty  cannon.  The  huz- 
zaing of  this  multitude  when  the  czar  appeared  and 
asked,  "Children,  are  you  well?"  Among  us  maneu- 
vers are  advertised  a  half  year  in  advance  and  for  six 
months  thereafter  descriptions  thereof  are  published, 
and  then  sixteen  thousand  men  appear;  while  here 
ten  to  fifteen  thousand  men  exercise  daily.  Every- 
thing here  is  thus  colossal  and  indescribable ;  I  am 
giving  you  a  few  weak  strokes  of  this  picture. 

My  hearty  and  deep-felt  greetings  to  all.  Again 
asking  you  to  attend  to  securing  the  testimonial,  I 
am,  with  love. 

Your  grateful  son. 

Dr.  M.  Lilienthal. 

III. 

(To  his  Fiancee,  Miss  Pepi  Nettre) 

Riga,  Feb.  21,  1840. 

I  am  exceedingly  occupied  here.  Since  the  people 
here  are  in  no  wise  educated  as  I  would  wish  and  as 
German  methods  require,  tasks  of  all  kinds  fall  to  my 
lot.     I  am  acting  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Orphan 

136 


FAMILY   LETTERS. 

Association,  as  member  of  the  school  commission, 
the  congregational  board  and  the  synagog  committee; 
I  must  keep  the  books  and  the  accounts  for  the  school 
— this  consumes  very  much  time ;  I  preach  every  three 
weeks,  and  give  confirmation  instruction  five  hours  to 
boys  and  five  hours  to  girls  weekly.  I  am  at  my 
studies  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning;  at  eight  o'clock 
I  begin  instruction  in  the  school  and  am  occupied 
there  and  with  work  for  the  various  societies  till  four 
o'clock;  from  five  to  six  I  impart  confirmation  in- 
struction; thereafter  I  attend  whatever  meetings  may 
be  scheduled. 

IV. 

{To  his  Father  and  Mr.  Isaac  Nettre,  his  Prospective 
Father-in-law) 

(Do  not  read  this  letter  if  anyone  is  present.) 

Riga,  September  16,  1840. 

Dear  Father  and  Honored  Mr.  Nettre: 

.  .  .  First  as  to  the  reason  of  my  long  silence. 
.  .  .  I  was  so  exhausted  by  ceaseless  tasks  that  I 
was  unable  to  undertake  any  more  work;  I  had 
worked  so  constantly,  so  unrestrainedly  and  with  such 
youthful  fiery  zeal  that  all  my  strength  vanished  and 
I  felt  completely  faint.  In  addition  I  was  afflicted 
with  constant  headaches  and  a  dreadful  burning  on 
my  chest,  and  with  it  all  I  had  to  carry  on  my  official 
duties  which  could  not  be  postponed.  I  always  came 
from  the  school  completely  worn  out ;  preaching  ex- 
hausted me  and  I  succumbed.  I  was  advised  to  take 
baths  in  the  neighboring  Baltic,  and  I  hurried  thither 

137 


MAX    ULIEINTHAL. 

and  took  twenty  sea  baths,  after  which  I  returned 
home  strengthened  and  refreshed.  .  .  .  Tasks  and 
unpleasant  occurrences  combined  to  cast  me  once 
again  on  the  sick  bed ;  a  fever  fastened  on  me,  and 
for  the  first  time  a  mustard  plaster  was  applied  to  me 
and  I  took  medicine  once  again  after  the  lapse  of  ten 
years.  Thank  God,  I  am  now  completely  restored  to 
health  except  for  an  occasional  pain  in  my  chest.  In 
this  entirely  true  report  you  can  find  a  good  excuse 
for  my  long  silence. 

A  second  reason  is  the  intolerable  burden  of  tasks 
which  are  imposed  on  me ;  of  these  you  can  have  no 
real  conception.  Do  you  think  for  a  moment  that  I 
have  as  much  leisure  as  a  Bavarian  rabbi?  Nay,  my 
beloved,  this  is  not  the  case.  1  am  the  only  person  of 
my  profession  within  a  radius  of  five  hundred  miles, 
and  I  am  the  only  Jewish  preacher  in  the  great  domain 
of  28,000  geographical  miles.  How  many  visitors  do 
you  think  must  be  seen  every  day,  how  many  letters 
answered  every  week,  and  that,  too,  not  superficially, 
but  as  thoroughly  as  expected,  carefully  and  well 
thought  out?  From  how  many  localities  do  I  not  re- 
ceive petitions  and  requests,  since  mine  is  the  only 
voice  in  this  wilderness !  The  consideration  of  these 
things,  since  they  are  of  importance  in  their  conse- 
quences for  me,  may  not  be  put  off,  but  must  receive 
immediate  attention.  In  addition  to  all  this,  I  must 
teach  from  four  to  six  hours  daily.  Besides,  there 
are  reviews  with  my  pupils,  preparation  for  my  ser- 
mons, occasional  addresses,  visits  to  the  sick,  care  for 
the  poor  and  other  official  duties.     .     .     . 

Now,  as  to  my  position.  When  I  think  of  my  rela- 
tion to  the  officials,  how  I  am  favored  by  the  minister 
(and  I  am  treated  with  real  fatherly  consideration), 

138 


Family  letters. 

when  I  observe  how  kindly  the  Jew-  is  judged  and 
how  he  is  being  encouraged,  when  I  consider  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  future,  I  would  exchange  places  with 
none  of  my  colleagues  in  Germany,  and  I  look  upon 
myself  as  richer  in  honor  and  glory  than  they.  But 
when,  on  the  other  hand,  I  think  of  the  condition  and 
the  position  of  the  youth  and  of  the  Jews  in  this  coun- 
try, that  fair  picture  is  sadly  obscured.  For  in  the 
first  place  the  poverty  of  the  Russian  Jews  exceeds 
even  the  wildest  imagination  that  we  Germans  can 
indulge.  People  with  5000  gulden  pass  for  rich  in 
this  country.  Men  who  possess  100,000  gulden  are 
exceptions,  as  the  Herr  von  Hirsch  ;^  of  such  you  will 
scarcely  meet  one  every  one  hundred  miles,  Warsaw, 
Moscow  and  Odessa  excepted.  '  But  the  poorest  con- 
gregation of  all  is  that  in  Riga.  With  the  exception 
of  one  firm,  Berkowitz  Brothers,  who  possess  possibly 
a  capital  of  15,000  dollars  and  a  very  good  business,  the 
whole  congregation  consists  of  people  none  of  whom 
possess  500  dollars.  .  .  .  And  whence  comes  this  sad 
condition  ?  Jews  were  never  permitted  to  live  in  Riga. 
This  city,  whose  commercial  activities  are  so  extensive 
that  it  is  called  a  smaller  London  or  Hamburg,  and 
is  rightly  considered  the  commercial  metropolis  of 
Russia,  consists  altogether  of  merchants  who  insisted 
on  their  old  Swedish  and  German  privileges  with  mer- 
cantile exactitude  and  care,  sought  by  means  of  their 
wealth  to  prevent  the  enactment  of  any  law  changing 
this  state  of  affairs,  and  defied  any  and  all  external 
pressure.      (I  risk  very  much  in  writing  these  lines, 

'Referring  to  himself,  not  the  Jew  generically. 

'Joseph  von  Hirsch,  the  Jewish  Croesus  of  Munich.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  noted  philanthropist.  Baron  Maurice  de 
Hirsch. 

139 


MAX    LIUENTHAIv. 

since  the  postoffice  opens  the  letters,  but  you  have  so 
beset  me,  that  I  am  taking  the  risk  to  write  these 
things,  although  the  secret  police  keep  strict  watch 
over  all  correspondence  and  there  is  a  great  desire 
to  know  my  opinions.) 

In  1835  the  well-known  ukase  appeared  by  which 
all  rights  were  granted  also  to  the  Jews.*  These  poor 
people,  the  greatest  portion  of  whom,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  eighteen  to  twenty  families,  are  old  clothes 
dealers,  received  this  information  with  great  joy  and 
took  steps  to  begin  a  new  life  by  opening  stores  or 
shops.  But  the  city,  which  is  immensely  rich,  op- 
posed the  ukase,  declared  that  this  command  was  an 
oversight  on  the  part  of  the  lawgivers  and  insisted 
that  the  Jews  be  expelled  from  Riga  to  a  neighboring 
place  (illegible).  The  trial  has  been  proceeding  for 
five  years,  and  during  this  time  the  Jews  have  put 
forth  every  possible  effort  to  win  their  case.  The 
idea  occurred  to  them  to  establish  a  school ;  they  be- 
lieved that  if  the  emperor  would  grant  them  the  per- 
mission to  build  this  in  Riga,  they  would  be  firmly 
established  here.  The  plan  was  approved;  the  cost 
was  met  by  a  meat  tax  which  was  to  be  imposed,  how- 
ever, not  on  the  native  Jews,  but  on  the  many  foreign 
Jews  who  sojourn  here  for  a  time  for  the  transaction 
of  business.  Of  the  1,000  dollars  that  the  tax  pro- 
duces I  receive  300  dollars ;  I  receive  an  additional 
100  dollars  as  preacher — this  income  is  equivalent  to 
no  more  than  400  gulden  among  us  at  home.     .     .     . 

Transport  yourself  fifty  years  back  in  Germany 
when  there  were  five  hundred  D''Tinil^  in  Fiirth,  and 
as  many  in  Frankfort  and  Mainz,  when  the  Jew  was 

''  That  is,  in  Riga. 

^  Students  at  the   Yeshibah,  the  Hebrew  academy. 

140 


ifAMiLY  i.e;tti;rs. 

bearded  and  wore  a  mantle  and  a  broad  cap,  and 
even  then  you  would  have  a  very  weak  facsimile  of 
conditions  here.  The  Jew  in  his  dirty  feschka  or  cap, 
with  his  torn  Schiihetse,  deems  himself,  thanks  to  the 
old  lin'nn^  nnj^"  superior  to  king  and  emperor;  he 
despises  all  education,  hates  all  culture,  opposes  all 
good  manners,  misinterprets  every  effort  at  enlighten- 
ment, understands  not  a  German  word,  hence  also  not 
my  German  sermons  either,  and  you  say,  "Why  do 
you  not  petition  the  minister  for  another  position?" 
Oh,  how  it  pains  and  grieves  me  often  in  my  innermost 
soul  when  I  stand  before  my  congregation,  which, 
with  the  strangers  present,  numbers  from  four  to  six 
hundred  auditors,  and  I  must  confess  to  myself  that 
two-thirds  of  them  do  not  know  at  what  I  am  driving. 
How  often  have  not  my  friends  told  me  how  the  Rus- 
sians scoff,  and  thus  wound  me  deeply !  And  yet  Mr. 
Nettre  writes,  "There  is  no  doubt  that  provision  can 
be  made  for  your  livelihood".  Is  this  really  true  be- 
yond the  peradventure  of  a  doubt  ?  Well,  you  will  say, 
return ;  but,  do  you  really  believe  this  to  be  so  easy  ? 
Where  are  the  many  vacant  positions?  where  the 
places  in  which  one  can  establish  himself?  and  sec- 
ondly, am  I  to  relinquish  so  readily  the  career  upon 
which  I  have  entered?  Am  I  to  believe  that  God  has 
cast  me  into  Russia  merely  to  humor  a  whim,  and  that 
he  will  thrust  me  forth  again  at  His  pleasure  ?  I  think 
otherwise  when  I  consider  what  I  have  accomplished 
in  seven  months.     .     ,     . 

*  The  belief  that  the  Jews  are  the  chosen  people. 


141 


MAX   UUENTHAL,. 

V. 

{To  his  Brother  Samuel) 

Riga,  Dec.  12-24,  1840. 
Dearest,  most  beloved  brother : 

It  is  now  eighteen  months  since  we  separated.  The 
imaginings  of  youthful  dreams  have  vanished ;  the 
hopes  of  former  years  have  failed  of  realization ;  the 
storm  of  agitated  life  has  cast  us  far,  far  away  into 
undreamt-of  foreign  parts ;  reality  has  laid  hold  upon 
us,  and  oh,  my  brother,  what  has  become  of  us?  Are 
we  in  a  fair  way  of  realizing  our  wishes?  What  have 
you  achieved?  What  begun?  What  accomplished? 
For  what  do  you  hope,  what  are  your  expectations, 
your  wishes,  of  what  would  you  partake?  Oh,  I 
would  question  you  concerning  every  emotion  of  your 
heart,  every  wish  of  your  mind,  every  thought  of  your 
soul,  so  as  to  assist  you  by  counsel,  aid  and  comfort 
and  thus  know  myself  happy  and  contented  in  your 
happiness  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  Who  knows  when 
will  strike  the  hour  of  the  eagerly  longed-for  reunion 
when  I  will  receive  the  answer  to  all  these  questions 
from  you,  my  dear  Samuel?  What  we  will  tell  one 
another  up  to  that  time  is  only  the  meager  sketch,  the 
skeleton  of  the  great  experiences  and  phenomena  of 
life  which  pass  by  us ;  but  how  happy  am  I  to  hear 
from  you  in  some  detail  concerning  these.  Our  dear 
ones  have  not  indicated  by  a  word  the  things  that  you 
have  written  me ;  I  beg  of  you  to  write  me  in  your 
next  as  circumstantial  a  report  as  you  are  now  re- 
ceiving from  me. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  October,  1839,  I  left  my 
father's    house.      You   know   the   pain  of    farewell; 

142 


FAMILY    LETTERS. 

wherefore  then  picture  it,  wherefore  reopen  the  wound 
that  has  begun  to  close?  I  spent  some  time  with 
PhiHppson/  a  tall,  spare,  young  man  with  an  old  face 
marked  by  lines  of  study  and  experience,  with  eyes 
reddened  and  weakened  by  nocturnal  vigils,  with  un- 
ruly hair  and  of  unusual  eloquence.  I  spent  a  fine  day 
in  his  home;  the  remembrance  of  contact  with  a 
great  .  .  .  man,  has  an  enlivening  and  inspiring 
effect,  and  his  picture  floats  before  me  as  an  inspira- 
tion in  many  a  fateful  and  trying  hour.  He  gave  me 
references  to  the  congregation ;  however,  I  did  not 
deliver  these  since  I  did  not  feel  that  I  needed  them 
because  of  other  steps  that  I  had  taken  before  my  ar- 
rival there.®  On  Sunday,  October  14,  I  traveled  by 
steamer  on  the  river  Elbe  from  Magdeburg  to  Ham- 
burg; this  trip  was  enjoyable  in  its  beginning,  but  soon 
became  a  trying  preclude  to  the  ocean  voyage  to  St. 
Petersburg.  On  the  sixteenth  I  was  in  Hamburg  and 
met  Dr.  Salomon,  a  corpulent  man  of  attractive,  witty 
and  hearty  conversation  (you  know  him  as  preacher ; 
he  has  four  sons,  all  clever,  and  a  fille  amiable  mais 
promise),  and  Dr.  Kley,  a  small,  thin,  sickly,  slender, 
sniffling  man,  without  children  and  with  much  money, 
less  heart,  hence  more  spirit.  In  Altona  I  met  Dr. 
Steinheim,  the  Maimonides  of  our  day.  He  has  a 
well-proportioned  large  head  and  bald  forehead  which 
is  constantly  agitated  by  thoughts  and  contemplation. 
These  are  three  interesting  acquaintances. 

The  Hamburg  temple®  did  not   fulfil  my  expecta- 
tions, but  the  synagog  at  Altona  far  exceeded  them. 

'  Ludwig    Philippson,    through    whose    recommendation    to 
Uwaroff  Lilienthal  was  called  to  Russia. 
*Riga. 
'The  first  temple  of  reformed  Judaism  in  Europe.     This 

143 


MAX   LIIvlENTHAIv. 

On  the  eighteenth  I  was  in  Liibeck,  a  free  imperial 
city,  of  no  significance  and  without  special  spirit.  On 
the  nineteenth  I  was  on  the  way  to  St.  Petersburg  on 
the  big  steamer  Nicolai.  You  are  well  acquainted 
with  sea  voyages ;  you  know  how  they  amaze  us 
Bavarians  who  have  never  seen  ship  nor  sail.  On  the 
twenty-fourth  I  arrived  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  most 
beautiful,  cleanest  and  finest  city  in  the  world.  Who 
can  describe  the  emotions  aroused  by  the  trip  up  the 
Neva,  which  in  a  straight  line  flows  majestically  by 
majestic  buildings?  Having  set  foot  on  land,  you  ride 
by  the  Peter  monument,  the  Senate,  the  Admiralty, 
the  imperial  palace,  the  columns,  the  Nevsky  prospect 
and  you  have  seen  the  most  beautiful  and  amazing 
sight  in  the  world. 

But  the  unseen  was  of  more  concern  to  me  than  the 
outer,  and  a  letter  of  recommendation  which  I  had 
received  from  the  Russian  Embassy  was  the  key  which 
opened  doors  for  me  and  with  the  help  of  God,  the 
All-Father,  also  the  door  of  good  fortune.  I  had 
seven  audiences  with  His  Excellency  Uwarofif,  the 
Minister  of  Education,  and  I  secured  not  only  his  per- 
sonal good  will,  but  also  his  fatherly  interest,  God 
willing.  I  was  presented  to  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, Count  Stroganoff,  seven  times  and  secured  his 
good  will  in  surprising  fashion.  I  had  journeyed 
thither  at  the  wish  of  the  congregation^"  to  intercede 
in  their  interest,  for  they  are  engaged  at  present  in  the 
struggle  to  secure  the  right  of  citizenship.  In  the 
carrying  out  of  my  commission  I  won  the  friendship 
of  many  prominent  men  who  were  most  helpful  to  me. 

Hamburg  reform  congregation  was  one  of  the  storm  centers 
of  the  early  years  of  the  Reform  Movement  in  Judaism. 
'"Of  Riga,  see  above. 

144 


famii^y  lette;rs. 

Having  convinced  myself  that  the  congregation  would 
experience  great  difficulty  in  achieving  its  purpose  and 
that  for  this  reason  the  position  of  the  school  is  very 
precarious,  which  anyone  who  is  at  all  familiar  with 
the  conditions  in  this  country  readily  perceives,  I 
sought  to  pave  the  way  for  a  future  rich  in  possibili- 
ties by  submitting  to  said  ministers  a  plan  for  the 
establishment  of  consistories,  which  was  received  with 
much  favor.  Having  thus  secured  the  favor  of  the 
ministers  (one  must  never  neglect  an  opportunity) 
I  received  on  this  account  a  recommendation  from 
Uwaroff  to  the  director,  Napierski. 

The  school  system  is  modeled  on  the  state  admin- 
istration. Russia  has  six  governors-general  subordi- 
nate to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior;  each  of  these  has 
under  him  officials  like  our  governors  of  nobility ;  for 
example,  Livland,  Essland  and  Kurland  are  ruled  by 
three  civil  governors,  who  are  under  the  governor- 
general.  Baron  von  Pahlen,  and  the  last  named  is  un- 
der the  minister.  Then  also  Russia  has  six  universi- 
ties, with  a  curator  at  the  head  of  each  of  them ;  un- 
der the  curator  are  the  directors,  each  one  of  whom 
superintends  all  the  schools  of  a  province.  As  men- 
tioned above,  I  received  a  letter  of  recommendation 
from  the  minister  to  the  director  of  schools  in  Liv- 
land, and  as  you  can  well  imagine,  I  was  well  recom- 
mended. The  subordination  customary  in  this  coun- 
try is  strictly  observed  by  all  classes. 

As  soon  as  I  arrived  in  Riga,  viz. :  on  January  12, 
I  began  my  plans  for  the  school,  which  was  opened 
from  the  sixteenth  to  the  eighteenth.  The  reason  for 
my  haste  was  in  the  first  place  to  realize  as  quickly 
as  possible  the  purpose  of  my  being  here,  and  secondly, 
to  convince  the  minister  that  he  had  not  bestowed  his 

145 


MAX   LIUENTIIAL. 

favor  on  an  unworthy  person.  The  solemn  opening 
of  the  school  aroused  the  attention  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. The  city,  inimically  inclined  to  the  Jews, 
was  astounded  to  hear  a  German  word  from  a  Jew, 
something  which  had  never  been  experienced  here 
/where  the  Jew,  as  may  be  said  without  exaggeration, 
'**'  is  six  centuries  behind  his  coreligionists  in  Germany. 
I  had  my  address  printed  and  sent  it  broadcast  among 
the  "Kahal",'^^  to  the  emperor  and  the  minister,  with- 
out, however,  subscribing  my  personal  signature,  since 
I  felt  that  I  would  not  be  forgotten  if  it  met  with 
favor,  and  also  that  I  would  not  be  mentioned  should 
they  be  displeased.  The  minister  sent  me  a  personal 
hearty  letter  of  thanks,  in  which  he  mentioned  that  he 
had  had  my  address  translated  into  Russian.  The 
Minister  of  the  Interior  presented  my  name  to  the 
emperor  as  deserving  of  reward,  and  I  received  from 
the  emperor  a  costly  diamond  ring,  accompanied  by  a 
special  document  wherein  I  was  notified  of  the  great- 
est satisfaction  of  the  monarch. 

I  took  steps  immediately  thereafter  to  introduce  the 
confirmation  ceremony,  and  since  on  the  one  hand  the 
boys  had  to  attend  school  first  in  order  to  receive 
religious  instruction,  and  on  the  other  hand  a  number 
were  not  yet  thirteen  years  old,  I  announced  a  con- 
firmation class  for  girls.  Seven  grown  maidens  at- 
tended the  first  session  of  the  confirmation  class, 
which  began  four  months  before  the  Feast  of  Weeks ; 
this  number  grew  to  twenty-five.  At  first  the  parents 
did  not  comprehend  what  all  this  meant ;  some  of 
them  wanted  to  introduce  their  daughters  to  me  in 
spe  matrimonii ;  others  wanted  to  see  what  the  out- 

"  Congregation. 

146 


tfcy 


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:3e  fipnsBJ 


Hie 


1-C 


MAX    UUliN'rilAL. 

contempt,  and  the  confirmation  service  was  an  inspir- 
ing celebration.  The  sermon  will  be  published  in  my 
volume  of  sermons  ;^*  it  reconciled  all  parties.  The 
most  fanatical  sectaries  of  the  Chassidim  of  various 
classes  of  Russian  Jews  came  to  hear  the  sermon  on 
the  second  day.  I  spoke  on  the  n*'tl'D''^  and  called 
upon  all  to  unite  in  faith  for  the  sake  of  Dtrn  ti'lT'^-^'* 
After  the  sermon  we  had  a  veritable  love  feast.  I 
continued  to  preach  with  zeal  throughout  the  summer 
and  was  delighted  to  see  how  the  Polish  Jews  at- 
tended in  constantly  growing  numbers ;  frequently 
too,  I  had  the  uneasy  consciousness  of  not  being  un- 
derstood and  hence  misquoted.  The  preacher  here  is 
in  a  peculiar  situation.  At  home  the  congregation 
meets  the  preacher  half  way,  inasmuch  as  they  come 
to  the  service  with  the  purpose  of  being  edified.  Here, 
the  congregation  and  the  visiting  auditors,  the  latter 
of  whom  regard  the  sermon  as  a  desecration,  attend 
with  the  purpose  of  criticizing  or  of  being  entertained, 
and  only  when  they  weep  and  their  own  tears  attest 
the  influence  of  the  sermon,  or  they  cease  their  violent 
protestations  against  the  preacher  and  say  that  he  has 
a  .  .  .  ^^  mouth,  i.  e.,  he  is  a  fine  speaker.  For 
this  reason  I  must  always,  though  against  my  will, 
appeal  to  the  emotions. 

I  have  not  been  able  thus  far  to  introduce  other 
changes  into  the  synagog,  since  even  the  more  en- 
lightened party  does  not  comprehend  how  there  can 
be  devotion  and  heartfelt  prayer  without  loud  ejacu- 
lations and  violent  motions.     I  have  been  able  to  re- 

^*  Predigten  in  der  Synagog e  zu  Riga   (Riga,  1841). 

"  The  Messiah. 

"  The  Sanctification  of  God's  name. 

"  Illegible. 

148 


FAMIIvY    I.e;TTSRS. 

move  only  the  crassest  abuses  by  unwearying  per- 
sistence. In  the  meantime  I  have  sown  the  seed  for 
much  future  work  and  with  God's  help  a  bright  and 
active  future  will  be  mine.  You  know  that  I  am  not 
given  to  speaking  much  of  chimeras.  Action  first  and 
then  speech ;  calm  reflection,  and  quick  accomplish- 
ment at  the  proper  moment,  such  must  be  the  mottos 
for  us  young  fighters  in  the  arena  of  life.  I  would 
gladly  tell  you  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which 
I  act ;  the  idea  which  informs  my  doings ;  but  my 
situation  is  so  difficult,  the  conditions  so  diverse  and 
contradictory,  requiring  so  much  cunning,  skill  and 
sad  to  say,  intrigue,  that  it  is  impossible  for  many 
reasons  to  set  these  things  forth  in  a  letter,  written 
here.  Silence,  keeping  one's  own  council,  quiet  and 
well-considered  speech  are  the  manner  and  the  condi- 
tions of  ascent  on  the  ladder  of  Hfe.  All  this  is  differ- 
ent among  you;  all  things  must  be  adjudged  accord- 
ing to  local  conditions.     .     .     . 

VI. 

{To  his  fiancee) 

St.  Petersburg,  Sept.  3,  1842. 

Pray  tell  me  what  reward  you  think  I  should  ac- 
cept— honorary  citizenship,  money  or  the  medal  of 
the  Anna  Order  ?  Girls  have  much  more  taste  in  these 
matters  than  we;  advise  me  in  your  next  letter.    .    .    . 


149 


MAX    UUIvNTlIAL. 

VII. 

{To  the  Same) 

St.  Petersburg,  July  5,  1843. 

My  heartiest  congratulations  on  the  marriage  of 
Marie^*  and  the  betrothal  of  Sophie^''  and  Caroline.^" 
You,  you,  alone  have  ever  known  and  recognized  how 
dearly  I  love  my  own  people,  and  therefore,  there  is  no 
need  to  assure  you  that  I  am  very  happy  in  the 
thought  that  four  of  our  dear  ones  have  found  their 
life's  happiness  with  God's  help.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  girls  will  still  be  in  Munich  when  you 
receive  this  letter  since  you  have  written  me  that  they 
will  leave  for  America  on  July  1.  If  they  are  still 
with  you,  tell  Caroline  that  I  am  very  proud  to  know 
that  she  is  the  wife  of  my  dear  Samuel.  These  words 
express  all  that  I  think,  hope,  feel  and  desire,  for  you 
know,  if  you  will  recall  it  to  mind,  how  Samuel  and  I 
always  walked  arm  in  arm,  what  Samuel  is  to  me; 
hence,  for  whose  domestic  happiness  can  I  feel  so 
concerned  as  for  his  who  is  so  inexpressibly  dear  to 
me?  But  I  have  no  right  to  feel  concerned.  I  have 
cause  only  for  joy  in  the  knowledge  that  his  happiness 
is  so  assured  in  having  a  wife  like  Caroline,  the  joy 
of  his  heart.  ...  If  they  have  already  departed, 
be  sure  to  write  me  circumstantially  everything  con- 
nected with  the  leave  taking;  for  you  can  not  know 
of  what  interest  everything,  even  the  most  trivial  hap- 
pening, is  to  him  who  lives  in  loveless  foreign  parts. 

^'A  sister  of  Pepi  Nettre  (later  Mrs.  Lilienthal)  married 
to  H.  L.  Dreyfoos,  rabbi  in  Bischviller,  Alsace. 

"  A  sister  of  Lilienthal  married  to  Dr.  John  Lehmeier. 

^^  A  sister  of  Pepi  Nettre  married  to  Dr.  Samuel  Lilien- 
thal, brother  of  Max. 

150 


Family  letters. 

VIII. 

{To  Mr.  Isaac  Nettre) 

St.  Petersburg,  July  5-17,  1843. 

Mr.  I.  Nettre,  Munich, 
Dear  Father: 

.  .  .  My  advice  is  that  you  send  Philip-^  to 
America.  Caroline-  would  then  have  a  brother  and 
he  a  sister  there.  And  if  he  would  follow  the  legal 
profession,  agronomy  or  business,  he  would  find  op- 
portunities there  which  he  would  not  have  the  least 
idea  of  in  France  or  Germany.  Now  that  Germans 
of  high  character  are  gaining  an  upper  hand  in  the 
North  American  free  states,  now  that  the  monetary 
crisis  seems  to  be  passing  and  credit  is  being  reestab- 
lished, now  that  the  western  colonies  or  states  are 
making  such  rapid  strides  forward,  a  future  of  indus- 
trial and  commercial  activity  is  to  be  looked  for,  such 
as  is  not  likely  in  Germany  and  in  Europe  where  nar- 
row-minded nationalism  is  on  the  increase.  .  .  . 
I  hope  nothing  for  the  Jews  in  Europe,  everything  in 
America. 

IX. 

{To  his  Father) 

St.  Petersburg,  November  11-23,  1843. 

Dear  Father: 

I  have  delayed  writing  till  today  partly  because  I 
wanted  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the  minister,  partly 

"  Dr.  Philip  Nettre,  the  brother  of  Lilienthal's  liancee. 
"Wife  of  Dr.   Samuel  Lilienthal. 

151 


MAX   UUICNTHAL. 

because  I  expected  a  letter  from  our  beloved  in 
America  and  further  because  I  wanted  to  gratify  your 
wish  that  I  might  be  able  to  give  you  some  explicit 
information.  But  the  minister-^  who  has  been  ex- 
pected daily  for  the  past  four  weeks  has  not  yet  ar- 
rived and  must  have  tarried,  perhaps  in  Vienna, 
whence  a  communication  from  him  to  the  ministry 
was  received  during  the  past  week ;  hence,  I  am  un- 
able to  write  you  anything  more  explicit.  I  have  asked 
for  permission  to  go  to  Munich ;  but  the  permission 
was  denied  me,  partly  because  my  affairs  are  now 
moving  along ;  partly  because  I  was  advised  and  quite 
correctly,  that  I  ought  to  wait  until  some  definite  out- 
come was  apparent.  Meanwhile,  although  with  God's 
help  I  am  justified  in  looking  for  the  best  results  from 
the  arrival  of  the  minister,  still  I  feel  that  matters  will 
scarcely  be  consummated  as  quickly  as  we  wish;  for 
when  I  was  here  the  first  time  in  February,  1841,  I 
was  told  that  matters  would  be  consummated  by  the 
end  of  the  year;  now  we  are  already  at  the  end  of 
1843,  and  negotiations  have  still  far  to  go  before  they 
are  finished.  Therefore,  I  believe,  as  a  ministerial 
counselor  said  this  week,  that  we  will  find  other  ways 
out  before  the  matter  will  be  finally  settled. 

In  the  interim,  having  been  appointed  for  this  Jew- 
ish matter,  I  am  working  daily  with  all  the  officials 
of  our  division  from  ten  to  three  o'clock ;  for  these 
are  the  office  hours  at  the  ministry ;  and  when  I  con- 
sider how  happy  people  in  Germany  feel  at  the  thought 
of  sitting  and  working  at  the  same  table  with  min- 
isterial counselors,  I  have  nothing  to  add  touching  my 
position.    Meanwhile,  what  will  make  life  here  in  St. 

''  Uwaroff. 

152 


FAMILY   LETTERS. 

Petersburg  not  very  pleasant  should  I  be  stationed 
here  definitely  is  the  separation  from  all  Jews.  True, 
the  seven  hundred  Jewish  soldiers  who  are  doing  gar- 
rison duty  here  in  the  various  regiments  numbering 
seventy  thousand  men  have  two  small  synagogs,  but 
they  attend  only  on  Saturday.^*  I  am  boarding  in 
such  a  soldier's  home.  True,  the  circle  of  my  ac- 
quaintances is  growing  from  day  to  day  and  I  am  re- 
ceived in  great  noble  houses  as  a  most  intimate  house 
friend.  But  that  intercourse  with  Jews,  who  love, 
feel,  suflfer,  believe  and  hope  as  do  we  is  missing 
here,  and  hence  also,  the  most  pleasant  hours  that  I 
used  to  enjoy  formerly.  I  have  not  preached  in  two 
years.  And  if  we,  officials  and  staff  officers,  had  not 
several  learned  circles  in  which  we  practice  speaking, 
I  would  lose  almost  entirely  the  ability  to  speak  extem- 
poraneously. For  this  very  reason  we  have  organized 
two  societies  that  meet  in  the  evening  when  we  are 
at  leisure ;  these  are  pleasant  in  every  way  and  highly 
beneficial.  They  permit  me  to  forget  for  a  time  that 
I  am  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  living  among  Jews, 
a  deprivation  which  only  increases  my  longing  to  pass 
a  few  weeks  with  you  and  I  hope  that  I  will  be  able 
to  inform  you  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  minister 
how  soon  this  happiness  will  be  mine.     .     .     . 

**  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  custom  of  orthodox  Jews 
to  attend  services  daily. 


153 


MAX   LIUENTHAL,. 

X. 

{To  Mr.  Isaac  Nettre) 

St.  Petersburg,  July  6-18,  1844. 

Dearest  Father, 

Most  Honored  Mr.  Nettre: 

In  my  last  letter  to  my  father,  which  I  sent  about 
the  middle  of  June,  I  promised  to  write  you  shortly. 
Official  duties  as  well  as  some  commissions  which  I 
had  to  attend  to  for  my  father  delayed  this  letter, 
which  I  am  forwarding  you  herewith.  My  father 
wrote  me  that  upon  your  return  from  France  you  ex- 
pressed your  surprise,  and  quite  rightly  so,  that  I  had 
given  no  exact  information  up  to  this  time  concerning 
my  definite  appointment ;  he  himself  expressed  his 
own  astonishment  as  to  why  I  have  neglected  to  do 
this  thus  far.  Dear  father !  painful  as  it  is  for  me 
to  see  the  eagerly  longed-for  union  with  my  dear  Pepi 
delayed,  this  bitter  feeling  is  heightened  to  a  further 
degree  by  the  knowledge  that  because  of  this  delay 
your  wish  to  be  able  to  go  to  France  to  your  Marie 
must  also  be  deferred.  I  can  well  appreciate  how  a 
man  like  you  who  has  toiled  so  many  years  pines  for 
rest,  longs  for  quiet.  But  it  comforts  me  to  know 
that  delays  are  not  my  fault.  You  know  that  when 
the  minister  called  me  hither  the  first  time  from  Riga 
in  1841  he  assured  me  that  matters  would  be  con- 
summated by  the  end  of  that  year;  I  worked  all  that 
year  with  great  zeal,  but  received  a  number  of  official 
replies  to  the  effect  that  matters  could  not  be  hurried. 
You  know  of  the  journeys  which  I  made  in  the  year 
1842  to  Vilna  and  the  other  sections  inhabitated  by 
Jews;   you  remember  the  commission  which  met  here 

154 


FAMILY    LETTERS. 

last  year  to  the  first  of  September;  and  if  I  could 
count  up  for  you  all  the  different  ministerial  com- 
mittees and  commissions,  the  differing  opinions  which 
receive  expression  here  as  everywhere,  you  would 
scarcely  be  surprised  that  matters  do  not  progress 
more  rapidly.  Now,  since  the  beginning  of  this  year, 
during  which  the  emperor  himself  has  been  inquiring 
every  week  where  and  how  the  work  is  proceeding,  it 
seems  certain  that  the  new  Jewish  legislation  will  be 
finished  by  the  end  of  this  year,  as  indeed  the  secre- 
tary of  the  ministerial  committee  on  Jewish  affairs, 
the  counselor  and  secretary  of  state,  said  recently. 
And  the  truth  of  this  remark  is  substantiated  by  the 
fact  that  several  sections  of  this  legislation  have  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  supreme  authority  during 
the  past  months  and  after  a  revision  in  parliament 
which  finishes  all  its  affairs  yearly,  the  whole  will  be 
sanctioned.  If,  therefore,  I  must  defer  against  my 
will  more  exact  information  concerning  my  position 
till  then,  I  can  nevertheless  repeat  to  you  herewith 
what  I  communicated  heretofore,  viz.,  that  a  position 
commanding  one  thousand  rubles  salary  is  assured 
me.  I  believe,  dear  father,  that  nothing  better  can 
be  done  now  than  to  take  steps  towards  securing  the 
marriage  license.  Hence,  I  will  send  you  soon  a  copy 
of  the  petition  which  I  will  direct  on  this  subject 
through  the  Bavarian  Ambassador  here  to  the  min- 
istry here.  An  oral  assent  of  the  president  in  Munich 
can  not  encourage  me  to  be  married,  because  in  the 
first  place  it  might  rest  on  a  misunderstanding;  sec- 
ondly, everyone  who  has  a  MatrikeP^  and  a  gainful 

^^  This  refers  to  the  barbarous  legislation  which  per- 
mitted only  a  certain  number  of  Jewish  families  in  such 
Bavarian  cities  and  towns  in  which  Jews  were  permitted  to 

155 


MAX   UUlJNTHAL. 

occupation  must  have  a  written  governmental  permit. 
Now  I  have  neither  Matrikel  nor  occupation  in 
Bavaria.  I  wrote  also  for  this  reason  to  my  father 
in  the  enclosed  letter  to  find  out  whether  a  Matrikel 
number  is  free  in  Munich  or  whether  anyone  is  selling 
such.  For  even  though  rabbis  and  physicians  can 
dispense  with  this,  still  this  holds  good  only  of  such 
as  officiate  there,  not,  however,  of  those  who  are  only 
candidates,  as  is  the  case  with  me  in  Bavaria.^^  The 
same  holds  good  in  reference  to  having  a  gainful  oc- 
cupation, without  which  no  one  can  marry  in  Bavaria. 
A  position  in  Russia  is  not  accepted  as  a  gainful  occu- 
pation in  Bavaria,  for  one  receives  protection  only 
for  Bavaria,  and  perhaps,  if  such  permission  is  sought 
in  Bavaria,  it  would  be  considered  equivalent  to  giving 
up  the  position  in  Russia.  Should  one  therefore 
marry  without  satisfying  these  legal  requirements  and 
in  addition  without  written  consent,  wife  and  children 
would  be  regarded  illegitimate  in  the  eyes  of  the  law, 
and  since  no  one  would  consent  to  this  latter  condi- 
tion, he  would  lose  his  naturalization  ipso  facto,  and 
my  naturalization  which  I  received  in  1841  would 
therefore  cease.  Further,  should  I  be  willing  to  lose 
my  naturalization  right,  and  seek  another  fatherland, 
I  could  not  even  become  a  Russian  subject.  Russia, 
which  is  closing  itself  more  and  more  against  the 
foreigner,  and  especially  against  the  Jews,  receives  no 

live.  This  Matrikel,  as  it  was  called,  descended  as  a  precious 
bequest  from  father  to  oldest  son ;  such  as  did  not  possess 
this  right  either  remained  unmarried  or  married  according 
to  the  Jewish  law;  their  children,  however,  were  considered 
illegitimate  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  of  the  land. 

^'  Lilienthal  had  never  held  a  rabbinical  position  in  Bavaria. 
His  first  post  was  Riga.  Hence  the  Bavarian  government 
considered  him  only  a  candidate  for  the  rabbinical  office. 

156 


FAMILY   LEITTERS. 

more  of  the  latter  as  subjects,  even  though  they  should 
be  appointed  as  teachers  in  Russian  schools.  Again, 
since  the  promulgation  of  the  sad  ukase  which  orders 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  the  frontier,^^  the 
future  of  the  Jews  is  so  gloomy  that  unless  the  Lord, 
in  whose  hands  the  hearts  of  kings  are  as  cups  of 
water,  will  have  mercy,  I  would  not  become  a  Russian 
Jew  for  any  price  in  the  world.  Hence,  in  order  to 
retain  my  Bavarian  fatherland,  I  will  send  a  petition 
to  the  ministry  through  the  ambassador ;  I  will  place 
a  copy  of  it  in  your  hands  through  my  father,  and  I 
beg  you  urgently  to  take  steps  that  the  matter  be  ex- 
pedited. May  it  succeed,  so  let  us  pray  and  hope ;  if 
it  can  not  be  accomplished  there  will  be  other  means, 
and  Pepi  will  be  my  wife  before  the  lapse  of  a  year. 
Therefore  rest  easy,  dear  father,  and  continue  with 
the  same  love  and  trust  as  ever  towards 

Yours  very  respectfully  and  lovingly, 

Max  Lilienthal. 

XI. 
(To  his  Fiancee) 

St.  Petersburg,  Dec.  8,  1844. 

How  can  I  express  all  that  fills  my  heart,  all  the 
gratitude  of  my  soul  now  that  the  hope  is  mine  that 
God  willing  we  will  be  married  in  May  and  I  will 
call  you  my  own?  It  is  ten  years  since  I  first  had 
the  thought  that  some  day  I  would  call  you  my 
own.     .     .     . 

How  little  avails  the  world  against  love,  outer  life 

"This  is  the  infamous  ukase  of  Nicholas  I  which  for- 
bade Jews  to  live  anywhere  within  50  versts  of  the  frontier. 

157 


MAX    UUKNTIIAL. 

against  our  inner  world !  The  ten  years  seem  to  me 
like  a  dream ;  the  six  years — up  to  May — since  I 
have  seen  you,  vanish  like  a  cloud  and  again  I  stand 
before  the  little  girl  with  the  black  locks,  the  glowing 
eyes  and  my  heart  whispers  to  me,  she  will  be 
mine.     .     .     . 

From  my  letter  to  your  father  you  will  learn  that 
I  have  received  my  appointment  and  with  God's  help 
I  will  bring  you  home  with  me  in  May.  I  will  take 
the  first  steamer  for  Stettin;  thence  to  Berlin,  by 
train  to  Leipzig  and  from  there  to  Munich.  My  so- 
journ there  will  be  about  three  weeks.  My  service 
here  will  not  permit  me  to  remain  longer  unless  I  re- 
ceive instruction  from  the  Crown  which  may  lengthen 
my  stay  in  Germany.  Meanwhile  this  is  still  very 
uncertain.     .     .     . 

I  suggest  as  members  of  the  bridal  party  on  my 
side,  my  father,  old  Mrs.  Rothschild  and  Uncle  and 
Aunt  Lichtenstein ;  I  leave  the  naming  of  your  party 
to  your  father. 


158 


MY  TRAVELS  IN  RUSSIA. 


MY   TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 


MY  TRAVELS  IN  RUSSIA.^ 
I. 

I  was  but  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  I  left 
for  Russia.  Having  finished  my  studies  at  the 
University  of  Munich,  and  perceiving  that  the  hope 
of  improving  the  pohtical  condition  of  the  Jews  in 
Bavaria  became  daily  fainter  and  weaker,  I  tried  to 
find  a  suitable  appointment  in  some  foreign  country. 
I  addressed  myself  to  my  friend.  Rev.  Dr.  Philippson, 
who  favored  me  as  a  contributor  to  his  paper.  Upon  his 
recommendation  the  office  of  preacher  of  the  temple 
of  Leipzig,  and  of  preacher  of  Szegedin,  in  Hungary, 
were  offered  to  me;  but  during  the  negotiations  I 
received  a  positive  call  from  the  congregation  of 
Riga,  in  Russia,  to  come  thither  as  preacher  and  di- 
rector of  the  newly  established  school. 

I  accepted  this  call  at  once,  as  Rev.  L  N.  Mannheimer, 
the  renowned  preacher  of  Vienna,  had  convinced  me 
in  a  correspondence  which  I  conducted  with  him,  that 
something  had  to  be  done  for  the  Russian  Jews,  who 
alone  of  all  their  coreligionists  were  behind  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  age.  The  sphere  of  activity  in  such  a 
vast  empire  flattered  my  youthful  vanity,  and  hoping 
for  the  best  results  of  my  sincere  endeavors — to  raise 
millions  of  Jews  to  a  higher  standard — I  asked  the 
Russian  ambassador  at  Munich  for  my  passport. 
Having  become   acquainted  through   literary   pur- 

'  These    sketches    appeared    originally    in    the   columns    of 
The  Israelite,  Cincinnati,  during  the  years  1855-57 

159 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

suits  with  the  counselor  of  the  ambassador,  Count 
Maltitz,  he  promised  me  to  procure  a  letter  of  rec- 
ommendation from  the  ambassador  himself  to  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  Count  Uwaroff  in  St. 
Petersburg.  I  obtained  it,  with  two  other  letters  of 
the  Bavarian  minister,  Prince  Wallerstein,  and  started 
with  an  easy  heart  from  my  sweet  home  for  the  dis- 
tant friendless  and  foreign  country. 

I  took  the  route  over  Madgeburg  to  see  Dr.  Philipp- 
son,  to  whom  my  traveling  expenses  had  been  sent 
from  Riga ;  went  to  Hamburg,  where  I  formed  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  the  HacJiam  Dr.  Bernays, 
the  preachers  Doctors  Salomon  and  Kley,  and  hurried 
to  Liibeck,  where  the  Russian  steamer,  Kamtschaka, 
took  me  on  board. 

Several  high  Russian  officials  were  of  our  company, 
and  they  were  upon  the  most  friendly  terms  with  all 
the  strangers  until  we  passed  Reval,  the  first  Russian 
fortress.  Then  they  felt  themselves  quite  superior  to 
us;  they  became  cold  and  haughty,  and  the  friendly 
intercourse  ceased  at  once. 

On  Wednesday  afternoon  at  3  o'clock  we  arrived 
at  Kronstadt,  and  hardly  had  the  steamer  cast  anchor 
when  a  host  of  customs  and  police  officers  rushed 
to  our  ship.  Our  goods  were  seized,  the  trunks 
were  put  under  seal  to  be  examined  in  Petersburg, 
while  we  strangers  were  summoned  before  an  officer 
of  the  police,  who  took  our  passports,  saying  that  we 
would  get  them  back  in  Petersburg  at  the  Bureau 
for  strangers. 

We  left  the  steamer,  and  were  transferred  to  a 
small  steamboat  which,  on  the  beautiful  river  of  the 
Newa,  brought  us  to  the  capital.  This  passage  of  an 
hour  and  a  half  presented  to  me  the  finest  and  most 

160 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

majestic  views  I  ever  saw;  on  both  sides  of  the  river 
the  fine  imperial  summer  residence  of  Peterhof,  and 
in  the  distance  the  gilded  domes  and  cupolas  of  the 
Greek  church,  resplendent  in  the  beaming  rays  of  the 
evening  sun.  The  nearer  we  came,  the  more  palaces 
of  real  beauty  and  taste  were  revealed,  till  at  last  we 
had  on  the  left  side  the  mercantile  part  of  the  city, 
Wassily-Ostrofif,  with  the  magnificent  Exchange,  the 
splendid  Academy  of  Arts,  and  on  the  right  side  the 
Quay,  where  many  of  the  foreign  ambassadors  reside, 
and  palaces  ornamented  with  rich  Greek  columns, 
bordering  upon  each.  We  had  to  leave  for  the  cus- 
tomhouse, and  having  slipped  some  silver  pieces  into 
the  hands  of  the  busy  officials,  we  soon  got  all  our 
baggage  free. 

I  stopped  at  a  German  hotel  on  the  Newsky-Pros- 
pect,  the  principal  and  most  beautiful  thoroughfare  of 
Petersburg,  and  hurried  the  next  morning  to  the 
Bavarian  ambassador.  Count.  Lerchenfeld,  to  deliver 
my  letter  of  recommendation.  He  told  me  that  he 
himself  would  introduce  me  to  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  but  that  I  had  to  wait  six  weeks  till  he 
would  return  from  Warsaw,  where  he  had  gone  on 
business. 

This  information  dampened  my  youthful  impatience 
a  little,  as  I  had  intended  to  begin  at  once  the  great 
work  of  the  civilization  of  the  Russian  Jews,  suppos- 
ing in  my  inexperience  that  the  laudable  undertaking 
depended  entirely  upon  my  exertions.  Nevertheless, 
I  intended  to  make  the  best  of  my  unexpected  leisure 
by  forming  important  acquaintanceships.  I  built  also 
many  air  castles. 

But  I  felt  hungry,  and  knowing  that  no  Jews  were 
permitted  to  live  in  Petersburg,  I  did  not  know  where 

161 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

to  get  a  Kosher  dinner.  I  met  several  converted  Jews, 
^of  whom  there  are  ahout  forty  thousand  in  Peters- 
jburg  and  Moscow;  they  sought  my  company,  as  they 
'are  always  happy  if  they  find  a  Jew  to  whom  they  may 
confidentially  state  their  dissatisfaction,  remorse  and 
repentance  of  their  apostacy;  they  invited  me  to  tea, 
but  their  invitation  to  dinner  I  would  not  accept,  and 
thus  I  began  to  feel  very  lonesome  in  the  immense 
capital. 

At  last  Mr.  T.  from  Riga,  a  member  of  my  congre- 
gation, arrived  and  brought  me  to  a  Jewish  soldier, 
where  I  could  get  a  Kosher  dinner.  A  young  man  of 
beautiful  manly  appearance,  six  feet  high,  decorated 
with  immense  mustachios  and  the  golden  medal  for 
bravery  in  the  battle  of  Navarre,  and  his  wife,  an  old, 
ugly  and  dirty  Polish  woman,  presented  themselves 
as  my  host  and  hostess.  I  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous 
dinner,  which  consisted  of  fish,  soup,  poultry  and  pie; 
although  it  was  not  very  clean,  I  regaled  myself  after 
having  fasted  about  fourteen  days ;  I  met  there  sev- 
eral soldiers,  one  of  whom  was  their  Gahhai,^  and  was 
invited  to  his  room  in  the  imperial  barracks,  for  the 
next  Friday  night. 

It  was  a  cold  Russian  November  night ;  the  Newa 
was  frozen,  and  could  be  safely  crossed;  and  accom- 
panied by  T.,  I  went  to  the  fort,  where  the  Gabbai 
was  stationed. 

II. 

We  entered  through  the  gates  of  the  mighty  fort, 
passed  a  long  line  of  barracks,  and  entered,  in  one  of 
them,  the  room  of  the  Gabbai,  which  was  on  the  first 

^  Congregational  officer. 

162 


MY    TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

floor.  The  room  surprised  me  in  every  respect.  I  ex- 
pected to  find  a  poor  man,  who  with  eighteen  rubles 
wages  a  year,  is  totally  unable  to  incur  any  extraor- 
dinary expenses.  But  it  was  just  the  contrary;  the 
room  was  brightly  illuminated ;  silver  cups  for 
Kiddush,^  and  silver  spoons  and  forks  graced  the 
table,  which  was  covered  with  a  clean  and  rich  nap- 
kin; the  soldier's  wife  wore  some  jewelry  round  her 
neck,  and  was  very  neatly  dressed,  and  every  article 
showed  comfort  and  well-being.  Certainly  it  must 
not  be  inferred,  that  this  is  the  case  with  every  Jewish 
soldier  in  Russia ;  the  greater  part  of  them  are  un- 
acquainted with  such  luxury,  but  our  Gabbai's  wife 
(the  Russian  soldiers  are  mostly  all  married)  was  a 
very  enterprising  lady;  she  carried  on  a  peddling 
business  with  some  aristocratic  houses,  and  had  gath- 
ered a  fortune  of  a  few  thousand  rubles  banco. 

After  having  partaken  of  a  very  sumptuous  supper, 
the  Gabbai  showed  us  the  books  of  the  Kabronim 
Society,'*  and  its  seal,  on  which  the  Hebrew  letters 
h'W^  were  engraved,  which  he  was  unable  to  de- 
cipher. I  explained  it  to  him  as  U'^^b  ni^n  "^bn,^ 
which  explanation  delighted  him  and  the  other  sol- 
diers, who  had  assembled  during  our  supper,  to  such 
a  degree  that  they  invited  me  to  a  soldier's  wedding, 
which  according  to  Talmudical  usage  had  to  take 
place  on  the  following  Wednesday,  and  that  on  the 
next  Sabbath  they  would  bring  me  to  one  of  their 
synagogs.  Before  reciting  grace,  I  had  to  explain  to 
them  a  chapter  of  the  MishnahJ^  in  which  some  of 

*  The  Sanctification  service  on  the  Sabbath  and  holy  days. 

*  Burial  society. 

*  "He  hath  swallowed  up  death  forever",  Isaiah  xxv,  8. 

'  The  Code  compiled  by  Rabbi  Judah  the  Prince  about 
200  A.  C.  E. 

163 


MAX   LIIvIliNTHAL. 

them  seemed  quite  well  instructed.  After  supper  a 
conversation  began  on  several  biblical  subjects,  and 
touching  the  Messiah,  one  in  his  ecstacy  exclaimed 
that  in  that  distant  glorious  time  a  Jew  would  be  able 
to  kill  a  whole  army  with  his  little  finger.  This  ex- 
clamation indicated  clearly  enough  the  degree  on  the 
religious  barometer  of  the  Russian  Jews. 

I  left  quite  well  satisfied  with  my  host,  who  by  the 
by  called  on  me  two  months  ago  in  New  York ;  for, 
having  lost  his  wife  he  emigrated  to  America.  I 
awaited  the  next  Wednesday  with  great  curiosity, 
and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  two  soldiers  of  the 
imperial  guard  called  on  me  to  accompany  me  to  the 
wedding,  which  was  to  take  place  in  the  barracks  of 
the  Brebraskenki  regiment.  The  colonel  had  graci- 
ously given  one  of  the  large  halls  for  the  solemn  occa- 
sion, in  which  I  found  fifty  to  sixty  soldiers  of  all 
the  different  regiments  of  the  capital,  in  their  differ- 
ent splendid  costumes.  A  fine  band  of  musicians, 
composed  of  soldiers,  played  some  beautiful  airs  be- 
fore the  ceremony  commenced.  Then  the  music 
stopped;  a  soldier  who  acted  as  Marshallik  (master 
of  ceremonies)  stepped  forward  accompanied  by  a 
soldier  who  played  the  fiddle.  He  began  a  long  ser- 
mon in  verses,  addressing  the  bride,  who  was  placed 
by  the  ladies  present  upon  a  kneading-trough,  as  a 
symbol  of  future  plenty  and  abundance.  The  sermon 
admonished  the  bride  to  take  leave  of  the  beautiful 
days  she  passed  as  a  virgin,  reminded  her  of  the  holy 
and  important  duties  of  a  good  wife  and  inspired  her 
with  confidence  in  God's  providential  care;  during 
the  delivery  of  this  advice  (in  the  most  corrupt  He- 
brew-German jargon)  the  young  bride  was  melted  to 
tears.    The  ladies  in  the  meantime  cut  off  her  beauti- 

164 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

fill  tresses,  shaved  her  head  entirely,  anointed  it  with 
some  honey,  wrapped  it  in  a  kind  of  lace  bonnet,  and 
then  adorned  it  with  the  usual  turban. 

These  preliminary  ceremonies  having  been  finished, 
the  ChupaJv  was  put  in  order,  large  wax-candles  were 
lighted;  the  bridegroom  first,  and  then  the  bride 
were  accompanied  under  the  canopy.  The  bride  was 
led  three  times  around  the  groom,  while  the  musicians 
were  playing  another  beautiful  air.  The  usual  bless- 
ings were  then  recited  one  by  one,  after  which  the 
bride  and  bridegroom,  who  had  fasted  the  whole  day, 
ate  something.  Supper  was  then  served  upon  the 
beautifully  decorated  tables,  at  one  of  which  the  men 
took  seats,  at  the  other  the  ladies.  The  officer  who 
was  on  guard  came  in  and  offered  his  congratulations, 
at  which  the  poor  groom  felt  himself  greatly  honored. 
Supper  finished,  one  of  the  soldiers  rose  upon  his 
chair  and  announced  the  dift'erent  gifts  presented  to 
the  poor  young  couple.  First  |r,nn  ^i'D;'^  and  here 
the  good-hearted  soldiers  had  contributed  all  the 
things  necessary  for  such  a  small  family  establish- 
ment :  chairs,  a  table,  candlesticks,  forks,  knives,  etc., 
and  then  n^^il  lifD,^  when  the  ladies  presented  some 
pieces  of  bed  and  bedding,  dresses  and  petticoats,  in 
order  to  procure  some  kind  of  a  dowry  for  the  poor 
soldier's  bride.  I  felt  really  affected  by  the  gentleness 
and  charity  of  these  Jewish  soldiers,  who  mostly  poor 
themselves,  contributed  liberally  their  share  to  the 
comfort  of  their  companion,  and  felt  more  happy  and 
more  satisfied  than  I  had  seen  Jews  for  a  long  time. 

Grace  having  been  recited,  the  dance  began.     The 

'  Marriage  canopy. 
'  "For  the  groom." 
'"For  the  bride." 

165 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

band  again  played  some  waltzes  of  Strauss  and  some 
Russian  melodies,  and  the  whole  company  enjoyed 
itself  in  royal  style  till  midnight.  Then  began  the 
bride's  dance.  Before  retiring  to  rest,  the  young  wife 
for  the  last  time  is  permitted  to  dance  with  all  the 
men  present,  and  every  one  heartily  made  use  of  this 
privilege.  This  dance  lasted  about  half  an  hour,  after 
which  the  happy  couple  retired,  the  company  departed, 
and  I  started  for  home  highly  pleased  with  the  happi- 
ness I  had  witnessed  among  my  poor  coreligionists. 

All  these  scenes,  for  which  I  was  totally  unpre- 
pared, as  I  expected  to  see  nothing  but  the  deepest 
misery,  excited  my  curiosity  for  the  service  on  the  next 
Sabbath.  Early  in  the  morning  a  soldier  came  to  my 
house  to  accompany  me  to  the  synagog,  which  was 
in  one  of  the  artillery  barracks.  The  soldier  was  of 
an  extremely  beautiful  manly  appearance,  and  I  was 
astonished  to  see  what  a  set  of  splendid  men  the 
Russian  military  discipline  could  make  out  of  the 
Polish  Jews.  We  entered  a  large  room,  decorated 
with  a  splendid  Aran  Hakodesh,^^  a  large  Bimah,^^ 
and  a  great  many  pews.  Soldiers  of  the  different 
regiments  had  assembled  there.  As  soon  as  the  ser- 
vice began,  they  took  off  their  helmets,  and  put  the 
Talith^-  over  the  head,  and  as  the  Polish  Jew  is  not 
used  to  saying  prayers  without  tying  a  girdle  around 
his  waist,  they  tied,  instead  of  a  girdle,  their  hand- 
kerchiefs round  their  uniform.  A  soldier,  who  of- 
ficiated as  Chasan,^^  read  the  prayers  with  intense  de- 
votion, and  in  general  I  perceived  a  fervent  devotion, 

"  The  Ark. 
"  The  reading  desk. 
^^  The  praying  shawl. 
"The  Cantor. 

166 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

which  is  seldom  to  be  found  in  the  other  parts  of 
Europe.  The  Torah  was  read  with  much  precision ; 
the  soldiers,  who  had  been  called  up,  offering  their 
liberal  mite.  But  before  the  Kednshah^*  of  Musaph^^ 
was  said,  they  sent  for  their  brethren  who,  even  on 
the  Sabbath,  had  to  work  in  the  artillery-forge  on  the 
lower  floor.  They  hurried  for  a  few  minutes  from 
their  work,  and  with  blackened  faces  and  hands,  in 
their  workman's  attire,  they  called  the  three  times 
Kadosh  with  such  fervor  that  I  was  very  deeply 
moved  when  I  saw  how  they  cried  to  their  Heavenly 
Father  to  forgive  them  their  violation  of  the  Sab- 
bath. After  service  I  was  invited  by  the  soldier  into 
the  barracks,  to  make  Kiddush}^  In  each  room  lived 
three  or  four  families,  each  one  having  a  bed  covered 
with  curtains,  and  some  furniture.  The  men  sat 
down,  presented  brandy,  and  after  I  had  recited  Kid- 
dush,  the  women  hurried  away  and  brought  the 
Shalit}''  I  remained  with  them,  they  sang  their 
Semiroth,^^  and  one  of  the  soldiers  explained  some 
chapters  of  the  Mishnah  before  he  said  grace.  After 
I  had  blessed  some  of  their  children  whom  they  pre- 
sented to  me,  I  left  highly  edified  and  convinced  that 
the  emperor  has  no  easy  task  to  perform  to  convert 
these  brave  and  religious  men  to  the  idolatry  of  the 
Greek  Church. 

"  The  Sanctification. 

"  The   portion    of    the   service    immediately    following   the 
Shacharit,  or  morning  service. 

"  The  Sanctiification  of  the  Sabbath. 
"  A  sort  of  pudding. 
"  Songs. 


167 


MAX   UUENTlIAIv. 


III. 


Soon  afterwards  another  messenger,  Mr.  J.,  of  my 
congregation  in  Riga,  arrived,  urging  me  to  come  as 
soon  as  possible  to  that  city,  in  order  to  enter  upon 
my  duties.  As  the  minister  had  not  yet  returned  to 
the  capital,  I  followed  the  advice  of  the  Bavarian 
ambassador  not  to  leave  the  city  before  having  made 
his  personal  acquaintance,  even  if  I  had  to  stay  some 
weeks  longer,  as  I  could  expect  no  advancement  in 
Russia  if  not  favored  by  the  highest  authorities.  I 
therefore  resolved  to  await  his  return. 

But  now  began  some  disagreeable  occurrences.  I 
was  not  aware  of  the  law  that  no  foreign  Jew  what- 
ever, if  not  called  by  the  government,  had  a  right  to 
enter  the  Russian  empire,  and  as  soon  as  discovered, 
had  to  leave  again  immediately.  As  I  was  not  yet 
installed  into  my  office,  and  had  no  passport  from  the 
Department  of  Public  Instruction,  this  law  was  also 
applicable  to  me. 

One  Saturday  morning,  therefore,  I  received  a  no- 
tice to  appear  immediately  at  the  Bureau  of  Police 
for  Strangers.  I  was  brought  before  the  Chief  Secre- 
tary, who,  although  a  Russian  himself,  spoke  all  the 
modern  languages  with  remarkable  fluency.  He  asked 
me  three  times  if  I  was  a  Jew,  for  wearing  neither  a 
beard,  nor  the  Polish  Schubetce,  and  being  dressed 
like  himself,  he  could  and  would  not  believe  that  I 
was  a  Jew.  But  when  I  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
he  read  me  the  above-mentioned  law,  and  told  me 
that  I  had  to  leave  St.  Petersburg  immediately.  I  ex- 
plained to  him  all  the  circumstances  of  my  case,  that 
I  could  not  yet  procure  a  Russian  passport,  the  min- 
ister being  absent,  and  remonstrated  in  every  way  and 

168 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

form.  But  all  was  in  vain  until  I  told  him  that  I 
should  report  the  case  to  the  Bavarian  ambassador, 
who  would  procure  from  the  general  of  police  the 
permission  for  me  to  stay,  till  the  minister  would 
return.  After  some  reconsideration,  during  which  a 
friend  of  mine  handed  him  twenty-five  rubles  banco, 
I  got  a  card  for  eight  days.  This  short  time  having 
elapsed,  I  was  summoned  again,  and  this  time  I  did 
not  get  the  cards  for  another  fortnight,  before  the 
secretary  of  the  legation  went  with  me  to  the  general 
of  police,  who  reluctantly  granted  me  the  demanded 
permission. 

But  during  this  time  the  passport  of  Mr.  J.,  from 
Riga,  had  expired.  He  had  lived  with  me,  but  I 
begged  him  to  change  his  lodging  as  soon  as  he  had 
informed  me  of  this  fatal  circumstance,  having  ex- 
perienced troubles  enough  for  myself  from  the  ami- 
able Russian  police.  The  Russian  Jews  have  no  right 
whatever  to  come  into  Russia  proper ;  they  live  either 
in  the  provinces,  formerly  forming  the  Polish  king- 
dom, or  in  those  which  belonged  to  Turkey ;  into 
Russia  proper  and  the  capitals  they  can  only  come  if 
authorized  by  the  governor  of  their  provinces,  this 
authority  having  been  confirmed  by  the  senate  (the 
supreme  court)  of  St.  Petersburg  or  the  local  supreme 
authorities. 

Mr.  J.,  therefore,  had  to  have  his  passport  renewed 
by  the  general  of  police,  and  although  having  spent 
some  money  and  time,  he  had  to  wait  till  Saturday 
midnight,  when  the  general,  leaving  the  theatre,  came 
again  to  his  of^ce  in  order  to  attend  to  his  business. 
During  this  time  he  hid  himself  in  several  houses  of 
his  friends,  in  order  not  to  be  arrested  by  the  police. 
Nevertheless,  the  captain  of  the  ward  was  in  search 

169 


MAX   ULIENTHAL, 

of  him,  and  thinking  that  he  was  still  living  with  me, 
a  soldier  appeared  in  my  room  on  Saturday  afternoon 
ordering  me  to  appear  before  the  captain.  I  feared 
something  was  again  amiss  with  me,  and  I  begged  the 
soldier  to  go,  telling  him  that  I  would  appear  imme- 
diately. But  he  insisted  upon  accompanying  me 
through  the  streets,  whereat  I  felt  mortified.  It  is  dan- 
gerous to  temporize  with  the  Russian  police,  and  there- 
fore I  followed  to  the  court.  There  I  was  examined; 
I  was  asked  if  I  knew  the  whereabouts  of  Mr.  J., 
and  answering  in  the  negative,  I  was  permitted  to  go 
home.  Mr.  J.,  frightened  by  this  incident,  thought 
himself  safer  nowhere  than  in  the  police  department 
itself,  and  he  hurried  thither,  passing  the  whole  even- 
ing before  he  got  his  passport  signed  again. 

I  had  hurried  to  my  lodgings  and  had  hardly  been 
there  a  few  hours  when  the  captain  himself  with  four 
soldiers  entered  my  room,  demanding  that  I  should 
state  the  abode  of  Mr.  J.,  as  he  was  sure  that  I  knew 
it.  I  denied  this  in  the  most  positive  manner,  but 
being  unable  to  explain  myself  in  Russian,  and  he, 
being  unacquainted  with  either  German  or  French, 
became  enraged,  and  threatened  to  arrest  me,  if  I 
would  not  give  him  the  information.  Troubled  and 
alarmed,  I  mentioned  the  house  of  a  nobleman  whose 
acquaintance  I  had  made,  where  J.  never  had  been, 
but  where,  as  I  supposed,  the  captain  would  receive 
a  rather  unwelcome  reception  for  his  untimely  intru- 
sion at  night.  Satisfied  with  this  information  he  left, 
but  I,  on  my  part,  felt  sure  he  would  return  when  he 
found  out  the  deception.  And  thus  it  came  to  pass. 
At  the  aristocrat's  house  he  was  rebuked  for  his  visit; 
he  then  hurried  back  to  arrest  me;  but  the  bird  had 
flown.     He  had  to  leave  without  attaining  his  pur- 

170 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

pose,  but  for  three  days  I  had  to  keep  my  bed,  so 
much  did  the  miserable  afifair  affect  me.  When  Mr. 
J.  reported  himself  the  next  morning  to  the  captain 
with  his  new  passport,  the  officer  told  him  how  I  had 
deceived  him,  but  knowing  that  I  was  acquainted  with 
the  Bavarian  minister  he  let  the  whole  affair  drop. 
Nevertheless,  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  hear,  one  year 
afterwards,  that  he  was  discharged  from  office  for 
some  misdemeanor  as  an  officer. 

No  one  believes  how  much  the  poor  Jews  are  vexed 
and  troubled  with  these  passports,  and  how  much 
money  is  extorted  from  them  by  the  subaltern  officers. 
Each  and  every  one  of  them,  even  if  the  permission 
is  already  granted  by  the  chief,  asks  and  expects  some- 
thing for  writing  the  passport,  for  presenting  it  for 
signature,  for  putting  the  seal  to  it,  for  recording  it, 
etc.,  and  if  the  bribery  is  refused,  the  petitioner  is 
surely  brought  into  trouble  which  will  cost  him  three 
times  the  amount.  The  emperor  knows  of  the  bribes ; 
in  the  theatre  such  officers  are  represented  in  several 
plays,  but  all  efforts  at  extirpating  bribery  in  Russia 
proves  totally  abortive. 

IV. 

THE  CONVERTS. 

It  is  a  beautiful,  splendid  and  majestic  capital,  that 
city  of  St.  Petersburg!  The  Isaac  place,  with  the 
grand  monuments  of  Peter  I  and  Alexander  I  sur- 
rounded by  the  imperial  residence  of  the  winter  pal- 
ace, the  gigantic  admiralty,  the  Roman  building  of  the 
senate  and  the  synod,  the  Byzantine  church  of  St. 
Isaac,  the  palaces  of  the  staff  and  the  state  depart- 

171 


MAX    LIUIvNTlIAIv. 

ment,  the  naval  arsenal,  and  other  beautiful  buildings 
challenge  perhaps  every  other  place  in  Europe,  except 
the  Place  de  la  Concorde  in  Paris.  The  Newski- 
prospect,  with  its  very  rich  churches,  elegant  thea- 
tres, ministers'  dwellings,  imperial  palaces,  immense 
bazaars  and  rich  dwellings,  forms  a  line  of  striking 
beauty,  and  being  the  thoroughfare  of  the  capital  is 
continually  crowded  with  carriages  and  princely  eq- 
uipages. The  river  Newa,  on  the  east  side  of  the  city, 
is  bordered  on  both  sides  by  the  splendid  dwellings  of 
the  foreign  ambassadors,  the  imperial  museum,  the 
academies  for  sciences  and  arts,  and  the  imperial  ex- 
change; canals  traversing  the  whole  city  provide  for 
its  cleanliness,  and  are  enlivened  by  thousands  of 
Russian  barks.  Upon  all  and  everything  is  impressed 
the  seal  of  Russian  majesty  and  wealth  proclaiming, 
"This  is  the  imperial  residence  of  the  Russian  Czars!" 

And  from  this  city  the  Jew  is  banished ;  in  this 
capital  no  Jew  has  a  right  to  live,  the  only  capital 
(Madrid  and  Naples  excepted)  in  civilized  Europe 
from  which  the  Jew  has  been  exiled  in  the  nineteenth 
century ! 

Under  the  government  of  the  late  emperor,  Alex- 
ander I,  the  Jews  were  freely  permitted  to  live  in  St. 
Petersburg,  although,  according  to  the  Russian  law, 
the  Jew  had  a  right  to  live  only  in  the  provinces  once 
belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  and  in  some  few 
portions  of  southern  Russia.  During  the  invasion  of 
Napoleon,  in  1812,  the  Jews  had  rendered  themselves 
so  exceedingly  useful  to  the  imperial  house  of  the 
Romanoffs,  had  rendered  such  eminent  services  to  the 
Russian  armies,  and  shown  everywhere  such  an  in- 
dubitable fidelity  to  the  cause  of  Russia,  that  Alex- 
ander, more  humane  than  Nicholas,  could  not  repay 

172 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

their  services  with  ingratitude.  In  an  ukase  after  the 
war  he  publicly  expressed  his  indebtedness  to  them, 
called  them  "the  watchful  eye  of  the  government", 
and  even  allowed  them  to  found  an  agricultural  col- 
ony near  the  capital,  an  opportunity  of  which  the  Jews, 
to  their  misfortune,  did  not  avail  themselves.  For 
had  they  settled  there,  under  the  eye  of  the  czar,  as 
diligent  and  laborious  farmers,  many  insinuations 
against  their  idleness  would  have  been  refuted  at  once, 
and  they  would  have  been  saved  a  great  many  vexa- 
tions thereafter.  Nevertheless,  he  never  troubled  them 
while  he  lived,  and  the  governor-general  of  the  capi- 
tal. Count  Mileradowitsch,  continually  followed  the 
example  of  his  master.  He  had  served  in  the  French 
war  with  credit  and  won  there  a  great  many  decora- 
tions, and  when  some  Jewish  merchants  once  pre- 
sented their  passports  to  him,  asking  for  permission 
to  stay  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  surrounding  gen- 
erals of  his  staff  reminded  him  that  it  was  against  the 
law,  he  answered  sternly :  "Gentlemen,  these  men  are 
the  most  faithful  subjects  of  His  Majesty.  Without 
the  assistance  of  these  people  I  neither  would  have 
defeated  the  French  nor  won  the  decorations  that 
adorn  my  breast."  And  he  was  perfectly  right ;  for 
Napoleon,  fully  aware  of  this  spirit  of  fidelity,  when 
on  his  flight  from  Russia,  had  to  stop  in  a  small  Jewish 
village.  Fearing  that  the  Jews  would  indicate  the 
route  he  had  taken  to  the  pursuing  Russians,  he  or- 
dered the  Jews  to  assemble  in  the  synagog  and  to 
swear  by  the  Torah  that,  as  he  was  going  to  take 
the  route  to  N — ,  they  should  not  betray  him  to  the 
Cossacks,  who  followed  his  tracks.  The  Jews  swore ; 
but  Napoleon,  nevertheless  distrusting,  took  another 
route ;    and  he  was  perfectly  right  in  his  suspicions, 

173 


i: 


MAX   UUENTHAIy. 

for  the  Jews  immediately  gave  information  that  he 
was  on  the  way  to  N — .  Alexander  and  Milerado- 
witscli  appreciated  this  faithfulness,  and  when  on  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  the  chief  of  police  complained 
to  him  about  the  illuminations  of  the  Succoth,  the 
general  ordered  that  the  lights  had  to  be  removed  in 
a  fortnight. 

But  with  Nicholas'  ascension  to  the  throne  this  was 
changed  at  once.  The  principles  that  were  to  guide 
him  in  his  government  were  autocracy,  Russian  na- 
tionality, and  Russian  Church.  Intolerant  towards 
all  other  denominations,  except  the  Greek  Catholic, 
animated  by  a  personal  disgust  towards  his  Jewish 
subjects,  and  intending  to  bring  them  over  in  the 
largest  possible  numbers  to  his  church,  he  immediately 
ordered  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  the  capitals, 
the  seaports  and  all  the  other  cities  renowned  for 
their  holiness  and  the  relics  of  Russian  martyrs.  St. 
Petersburg,  Moscow,  Sebastapol,  Kief  and  some  other 
cities  were  thus  the  places  from  which  the  Jews  were 
exiled.  The  brave  and  liberal  Mileradowitsch  had 
fallen  on  the  Isaac's  place  in  the  bloody  revolution 
that  marked  Nicholas'  ascension  to  the  throne,  and 
there  was  none  who  dared  speak  a  word  in  favor  of 
the  unhappy  exiles. 

The  Polish  Jews,  who  had  sojourned  in  the  capitals 
only  ad  interim  left  them  in  a  body ;  but  a  large  num- 
ber who  for  many  years  had  been  regular  inhabitants 
had  established  their  business,  were  blessed  with  large 
families,  and  had  sent  their  sons  to  the  different  col- 
leges, and  to  them  the  choice  was  left  either  to  fall 
into  misery  or  to  become  Christians.  The  largest 
number  did  the  latter,  and  Petersburg  and  Moscow 
number  at  present  over  forty  thousand  converts. 

174 


MY  TRAVELS   IN    RUSSIA. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  great  many  of  them, 
and  they  feel  inexpressible  pangs  and  tortures  of  con- 
science. While  on  the  one  hand  they  try  to  appease 
their  uneasiness  by  the  fair  prospect  that  is  opened 
for  their  children  by  the  satisfaction  that  they  are 
exempt  from  the  continual  reactions  and  exceptional 
laws  to  which  their  former  coreligionists  are  exposed, 
on  the  other  hand,  when  in  the  company  of  Jews,  they 
show  themselves  so  awkward  and  uneasy  that  one  can 
not  help  but  pity  them.  They  despise  the  heathen 
idolatry  of  the  Russian  Church,  but  do  not  dare,  for 
fear  of  Siberia,  to  betray  themselves  by  a  single  word. 
Their  heart  clings  still  with  all  the  Jewish  fervor  to 
the  holy  Shema  Yisrael,  but  nevertheless,  they  feel  at- 
tracted by  the  wealth  and  luxury  that  surround  them. 
They  try  to  conceal  their  Jewish  jargon  and  do  not 
wish  to  be  reminded  of  their  Jewish  origin,  but  never- 
theless on  the  Jewish  New  Year's  Day  and  Day  of 
Atonement  remorse  pursues  them  like  an  evil  specter, 
and  thus  their  life  is  one  of  uneasiness,  repentance, 
luxury  and  apprehension. 

The  emperor  appointed  some  of  the  converted  Jews 
to  high  offices  in  the  state,  in  order  to  allure  others 
to  follow  the  example  of  their  treachery;  thus  one 
of  his  private  secretaries  and  counselors  of  state,  with 
whom  he  liked  best  to  work,  was  the  converted  Jew 
Posen.  Another,  Feigin,  was  the  right  hand  of  the 
late  Minister  of  Finance,  Count  Kankrin;  and  in 
trade  and  business  a  great  many  acquired  wealth  and 
influence.  There  are  but  three  Jewish  families  who 
as  Jews  and  dentists  were  permitted  to  remain  in  St. 
Petersburg:  two  brothers  Wagenheim,  of  whom  the 
elder  one  is  the  dentist  of  the  emperor,  and  Waller- 
stein,  all  of  them  holding  many  appointments  in  the 

175 


MAX  UUSNTHAIv. 

different  imperial,  civil  and  military  academies ;  and 
a  widow,  Mrs.  Brown,  lives  there  as  midwife,  attached 
to  the  imperial  household.  Some  of  the  converts  are 
appointed  in  the  different  departments,  but  very  few 
have  attained  any  degree  of  distinction.  Many,  how- 
ever, have  become  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Jews, 
and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  ways  in  which 
the  Jews  make  their  living,  with  all  their  different 
religious  customs  and  manners,  they  are  the  insti- 
gators of  bitter  denunciations,  as  a  result  of  which 
the  Jews  are  persecuted,  and  they  shun  no  means  by 
which  to  extort  money  from  their  former  coreligion- 
ists, threatening  them  with  denunciations  if  the  sum 
required  is  not  forthcoming.  It  was  a  sad  reflection 
to  me  that  some  Polish  Jews,  when  doffing  the  Schu- 
betze,  lose  all  commiseration  for  their  former  breth- 
ren ;  it  seemed  as  if  they  felt  some  satisfaction  in 
pushing  others  into  the  same  abyss  into  which  their 
treachery  had  dragged  them.  I  shuddered  at  this  sad 
experience,  and  longed  for  the  return  of  the  minister, 
in  order  to  begin  the  work  of  reform  so  badly  needed 
and  so  ardently  desired  by  so  many  noble-minded 
Polish  Jews. 

V. 

NICHOLAS  I. 

I  was  informed  at  the  Department  of  Public  In- 
struction that  I  had  to  wait  eight  days  more  before 
the  minister.  Count  Uwaroff,  would  return.  Resolved 
not  to  leave  the  capital  before  having  introduced  my- 
self to  my  future  chief,  I  had  to  try  to  pass  the  inter- 
vening time  in  the  best  way  I  could ;  and  to  my  great 
satisfaction  I  found  in  the  meantime  an  opportunity 

176 


MY   TRAVEILS    IN    RUSSIA. 

to  see  the  emperor  surrounded  by  all  his  military 
splendor  and  grandeur. 

Twice  a  year,  during  the  months  of  May  and 
November,  Emperor  Nicholas  in  person  reviews  the 
whole  corps  of  the  imperial  guard  stationed  in  St. 
Petersburg,  amounting  to  70,000  men,  and  composed 
of  full  divisions  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery. 
This  guard  is  certainly  the  finest  military  body  in  the 
world.  Each  regiment  is  composed  of  3,000  men  all 
of  whom  are  of  one  and  the  same  size,  over  six  feet 
high,  the  hair  of  one  and  the  same  color,  the  beard 
and  the  mustaches  of  one  and  the  same  fashion ;  and 
in  the  cavalry  the  horses  of  each  regiment  are  of  one 
and  the  same  color.  Some  weeks  before  the  appointed 
day  of  the  parade,  be  the  weather  stormy  or  windy, 
hot  or  cold,  they  are  drilled  by  their  respective  gen- 
erals, and  it  is  really  astonishing  with  what  precision 
these  myriads  move.  The  music  bands  are  exceed- 
ingly large,  composed  sometimes  of  from  fifty  to 
sixty  men. 

The  day  on  which  the  parade  was  appointed  to  take 
place  was  a  Sabbath.  Early  in  the  morning  the  whole 
city  was  awakened  by  the  thrilling  airs  which  led  the 
regiments  to  the  immense  place  in  the  midst  of  the 
capital,  on  which  these  many  soldiers  had  to  move.  I 
went  there  at  nine  o'clock  and  found  the  whole  guard 
already  in  perfect  order.  The  commanding  generals 
arrived  in  carriages,  and  before  they  mounted  their 
richly  caparisoned  horses,  their  attendants  brushed 
and  cleaned  them  again,  although  there  was  not  the 
slightest  speck  of  dust  to  be  seen  on  them. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  cannons  of  the  fortress  began 
to  fire  a  salute.  While  almost  all  the  generals  had 
arrived  in  closed  carriages,  the  emperor  arrived  in  an 

177 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

Open  gig,  drawn  by  only  one  horse,  and  he  alighted 
and  mounted  a  beautiful  black  stallion  which  seemed 
to  be  fully  aware  of  the  noble  burden  it  bore.  A  num- 
berless host  of  generals,  led  by  the  hereditary  Grand 
Duke  Alexander,  by  the  emperor's  brother,  Michael, 
and  the  ministers  and  ambassadors,  all  glittering  with 
gold  and  their  breasts  covered  with  decorations  and 
ribbons,  received  the  mighty  man,  at  whose  appear- 
ance a  new  spirit  seemed  to  pervade  these  waiting 
legions. 

According  to  Russian  military  discipline  the  troops 
have  to  shout  their  hurrah  when  the  emperor  is  rid- 
ing along  their  lines,  whether  they  are  satisfied  or  not ; 
and  these  thundering  shouts,  accompanied  by  the 
music  and  drums  of  perhaps  thirty  dififerent  bands 
and  the  firing  of  cannons,  has  really  a  majestic  ef- 
fect. Nicholas  is  the  best  rider  in  his  army,  although 
the  Russian  cavalry  are  excellent  riders ;  he  is  the 
tallest  in  the  whole  guard,  for  with  his  golden  helmet 
he  overtops  the  whole  crowd  of  giants  that  surround 
him;  and  when,  with  his  stern  and  fixed  look  he  ex- 
amines the  lines  that  extend  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
eye,  it  is  truly  a  great  and  imposing  spectacle. 

Having  passed  all  the  lines  he  took  a  stand  where 
the  troops  had  to  pass  before  him  in  review.  The 
Grand  Duke  Michael  commanded,  and  the  regiments 
began  to  defile,  led  by  their  commanders,  amongst 
whom  were  the  hereditary  grand  duke,  the  emperor's 
son-in-law  and  the  Duke  of  Leuchtenberg,  Napo- 
leon's step-grandson.  Whenever  a  batallion  passes 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  emperor  he  calls  to  them: 
"Very  good,  children !"  and  again  after  the  rules  of 
military  discipline,  they  have  to  answer  in  a  body : 
"We  are  happy  to  try  our  best  for  Your  Majesty!" 

178 


MY   TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

The  parade  ended,  the  emperor  orders  that  every 
soldier  be  paid  a  gratuity  of  half  a  ruble  silver, 
whereafter  the  regiments   retire  into  their  barracks. 

Thus  I  had  seen  him,  the  mighty  man  whose  word, 
before  1852,  was  an  all-powerful  command  to  the 
whole  of  Europe ;  and  really  his  exterior  bespeaks 
fully  the  idea  he  represents.  He  is  a  born  ruler. 
Anybody  who  never  saw  him  and  did  not  expect 
to  see  Nicholas  would  be  filled  with  some  kind  of 
awe  and  reverence  upon  approaching  him.  His  face 
is  as  if  sculptured  out  of  marble  or  cast  of  metal; 
his  high  forehead  overshadows  his  large  sternly  fixed 
eyes ;  his  firmly  closed  lips  are  cold,  but  show  a 
resolute  determination  and  an  iron  will ;  he  seldom 
smiles,  but  listens  attentively  and  answers  briefly. 
He  is  always  dressed  in  military  uniform,  and  disci- 
pline seems  to  be  his  watchword  in  his  personal 
deportment,  as  well  as  in  his  actions. 

But  Nicholas  is  not  only  a  handsome  but  also  a 
great  man.  Temperate  in  his  habits,  punctual  in 
his  manifold  labors,  richly  rewarding  those  who 
faithfully  serve  his  plans,  and  unrelentingly  pursu- 
ing those  who  oppose  or  cross  his  views,  he  is  ani- 
mated but  by  the  one  and  supreme  idea,  that  Russia 
has  to  become  the  all-influential  empire  of  the  world, 
and  the  Romanoffs  its  mighty  representatives.  En- 
couraged by  the  unbroken  success  of  twenty-five 
years,  emboldened  by  the  fawning  flatteries  of  all 
the  royal  dynasties  of  Europe,  shunning  no  means, 
if  they  will  but  assist  in  attaining  his  aims,  he  is 
accustomed  to  blind  obedience,  to  divine  worship. 

Nevertheless  he  is  inclined  to  justice ;  although 
this  word  is  but  a  mockery  in  the  Russian  judiciary 
and  executive  courts,  still,  wherever  his  arm  reaches, 

179 


MAX   UUUNTHAL. 

Nicholas  administers  justice  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word,  if  he  be  not  misled  by  slander  and  talebearing 
or  the  blind  prejudices  of  his  fanaticism. 

Nicholas,  although  a  sworn  enemy  to  liberty  and 
equality,  and  considering  himself  the  supreme  guar- 
dian of  all  rights  and  privileges  "by  the  grace  of 
God,"  nevertheless  hates  serfdom,  and  would  be 
happy  to  see  it  abolished  in  his  empire.  When  the 
peasants  of  Livonia  had  begun  to  mutiny  in  1841, 
and  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Count  Stro- 
ganoff,  remarked,  during  the  session  of  the  privy 
council  at  which  the  emperor  presided,  that  this 
mutiny  was  the  result  of  the  liberty  granted  by 
Alexander  to  these  peasants,  Nicholas  discharged  him 
on  the  spot  with  the  rebuke :  "Thou  dost  not  com- 
prehend the  views  of  my  government."  He  has 
liberated  and  granted  a  kind  of  municipal  govern- 
ment to  the  twenty  millions  of  peasants  that  belong 
to  the  crown,  and  seeks  every  measure  to  abolish 
serfdom,  although  it  seems  impossible  to  carry  out 
this  plan. 

Early  in  the  morning  he  is  at  work  at  his  table, 
where  the  reports  of  the  privy-council,  of  the  coun- 
cil of  ministers,  of  the  sixteen  ministerial  depart- 
ments, and  a  host  of  other  institutions  await  his 
decision.  He  never  keeps  any  paper  longer  than 
forty-eight  hours ;  after  that  time  it  is  returned  to 
the  different  chiefs ;  and  this  is  an  immense  task. 
And  he  reads  every  paper  so  carefully,  that  he  cor- 
rects the  mistakes,  and  on  every  report  he  writes 
either  his  name,  "be  it  so,"  "approved,"  or  "reject- 
ed," in  the  latter  case  always  adding  in  short  terms 
his  reasons ;  and  what  he  writes  is  beautifully  writ- 
ten, for  he  is  an  excellent  penman. 

180 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

In  the  circle  of  his  family  he  is  the  most  affec- 
tionate husband,  the  most  tender  father,  but  he  has 
no  heart,  no  compassion  for  his  fellow  creatures, 
and  he  sacrifices  all  and  everything  to  the  three  lead- 
ing principles  of  his  government :  autocracy,  nation- 
ality, and  supremacy  of  the  Greek  Church,  for  he  is 
truly  bigoted,  and  on  account  of  his  bigotry  he  pur- 
sues his  Jewish,  Catholic,  Protestant  and  other  sub- 
jects, invents  and  tries  all  means  to  entrap  them  and 
to  lead  them  to  apostacy ;  and  the  whole  western 
part  of  the  empire  is  full  of  subjects  who  groan 
under  the   horrible   yoke   of   hierarchical    fanaticism. 

Nicholas  has  reached  the  climax  of  prosperity. 
Well,  the  awful  hour  of  the  bloody  trial  has  come; 
let  us  see  if  he  will  be  able  to  restrain  it. 


VI. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  ; 
RUSSIAN  OEFICIAES. 

At  last,  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  I  was  informed 
that  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  Mr.  Sergei 
Semenowitch  Uwaroff,  had  returned  from  Warsaw. 
In  Russia  everyone  is  bound  to  remember  all  these 
first  names ;  for  as  soon  as  anyone  gets  well  ac- 
quainted with  someone  he  does  not  call  him  by  his 
family  name,  but  by  his  own  first  name  and  that 
of  his  father,  by  which  is  added  the  syllable  "witch," 
which  means  son ;  Sergei  Semenowitch  thus  means 
Sergei,  son  of  Semen.  The  present  emperor  is 
called  Nicolai  Paulowitch  (son  of  Paul)  ;  the  hered- 
itary crown  prince  is  called  Caesarowitch  (son  of 
the   Caesar),   and   thus   everyone   who   is   not   of   a 

181 


MAX   LILIIilNTHAIv. 

higher  rank  is  called  in  conversation  by  these  two 
names.  I,  though  a  foreigner,  had  to  give  my 
father's  name,  Leb,  and  was  therefore  usually  called 
Maxim  Lebowitch. 

Informed  of  the  minister's  return,  I  hastened  to 
the  palace  of  the  Bavarian  ambassador,  who  had 
promised  to  introduce  me  to  my  future  chief,  upon 
whose  favor  the  success  of  my  career  in  Russia  was 
to  depend.  I  had  been  taught  that  there  are  three 
requisites  in  that  northern  icy  country  that  are  essen- 
tial conditions  to  future  success,  either  a  recommen- 
dation, a  lady,  or  bribery  with  money.  To  be  rec- 
ommended by  an  ambassador  was  as  favorable  a 
circumstance  as  I  could  expect,  and  I  did  not  delay 
making  use  of  it.  But  what  a  disappointment  when 
I  found  the  ambassador's  palace  closed,  and  heard 
that  he  had  been  removed  to  Berlin!  I  considered 
this  a  very  bad  omen  for  the  beginning,  but  did  not 
lose  courage.  I  hurried  to  his  charge  d'  affaires, 
Count  Fahrenheim,  who  received  me  very  kindly  and 
wrote  for  me  immediately  an  official  letter  of  recom- 
mendation. Provided  with  this  letter  and  another 
one  from  the  Russian  embassy  of  Munich,  I  anxious- 
ly awaited  Friday,  the  minister's  usual  reception  day. 

I  felt  no  little  uneasiness  when  my  carriage  stopped 
at  the  minister's  palace.  The  palace  of  the  depart- 
ment is  surrounded  by  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
magnificent  buildings.  On  the  north  side  is  the  splen- 
did Alexandrowski  Theatre,  in  which  only  Russian 
actors  are  permitted  to  play.  It  is  an  immense  build- 
ing, decorated  on  both  sides  with  Greek  columns, 
ornamented  with  bronze  and  marble  statues,  and  the 
temple  of  the  muses,  in  which  the  excellent  Russian 
actors,  Karatikin  and  his  lady,  gathered  their  laurels 

182 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

and  a  fortune  of  one  million  francs.  On  the  other 
side  is  the  palace  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
resplendent  with  marbles,  Greek  columns,  statuaries, 
and  an  immense  number  of  apartments.  Opposite  to 
it  stands  another  palace,  the  school  of  the  Russian 
theatres,  in  which  the  young  aspirants,  dedicating 
themselves  to  the  service  of  the  different  muses,  are 
trained  for  their  future  career.  These  two  palaces 
occupy  a  whole  street.  Then  comes  the  palace  of 
the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  It  is  built 
in  a  half-circle,  and  divided  by  three  immense  por- 
ticos. The  right  wing  is  the  dwelling  of  the  minis- 
ter, consisting  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  apartments, 
furnished  at  the  expense  of  the  imperial  treasury,  and 
representing  in  every  manner  the  wealth  and  might 
of  Russian  majesty,  and  on  the  left  wing  is  the  de- 
partment in  which  about  one  hundred  officials  are 
employed.  It  is  divided  into  seven  spacious  rooms, 
according  to  the  seven  districts,  into  which  the  em- 
pire is  divided,  for  the  purposes  of  public  instruc- 
tion. The  director  of  the  department  occupies  a 
very  large  room  for  himself,  in  front  of  which  is 
an  immense  salon  for  the  meetings  of  the  depart- 
ment, decorated  with  the  life-size  portrait  of  the 
emperor  in  full  imperial  dress,  surrounded  by  the 
portraits  of  eminent  Russian  scholars  and  the  presi- 
dents of  the  imperial  academy  of  sciences,  one  of 
whom  was  the  lady.  Countess  Dashkofif,  the  far- 
famed  favorite  of  the  Empress  Catherine.  Each 
district  in  the  department  is  presided  over  by  a  chief 
clerk,  and  in  his  room  are  as  many  green  tables, 
with  a  sufficient  number  of  officials,  as  different 
states  under  his  direction.  The  greatest  order,  the 
strictest     discipline,     the     utmost     tranquility     reign 

183 


MAX    LIUUNTIIAL. 

throughout  the  department.  The  employees  come  at 
ten  and  leave  at  three  o'clock.  Two  portiers  open 
the  door,  take  off  the  coat  or  cloak  of  every  official, 
and  brush  the  dust  off  of  everyone  before  he  as- 
cends the  marble  stairs  to  enter  his  room.  With  the 
utmost  courtesy  each  one  greets  the  other,  and  when 
the  chief  clerk  is  entering  the  room  all  have  to  rise 
and  stand  till  he  has  taken  his  seat.  All  the  em- 
ployees belong  to  one  of  the  different  sixteen  de- 
grees into  which  the  officers  are  divided,  and  by 
virtue  of  which  they  belong  to  the  nobility  and  can 
obtain  rank,  influence,  wealth  and  decorations.  There 
were  born  princes  of  the  highest  aristocracy  of  Rus- 
sia, having  but  the  lower  degrees  of  the  service  no- 
bility, while  other  men  had  the  high  rank  of  coun- 
selors of  state. 

All  the  officials  wear  uniform.  In  the  military 
department  the  military  uniform  is  worn ;  in  the  civil 
departments  they  have  their  richly  and  differently 
embroidered  dress-coats  for  public  reception  days ; 
on  ordinary  days  each  department  is  distinguished 
by  different  colors  and  buttons — the  department  of 
public  instruction  by  blue  coats  and  trousers  with 
yellow  buttons,  the  department  of  the  interior  by 
green  coats  with  gilt  buttons,  the  department  of  the 
foreign  affairs  by  blue  coats  with  white  buttons. 
This  system  of  uniform  is  carried  so  far  that  even 
the  scholars  of  the  colleges  (gymnasium)  wear  blue 
coats  with  red  collars  and  yellow  buttons,  and  the 
students  of  the  universities  different  coats  according 
to  the  different  faculties,  a  cocked  hat  and  a  sword. 
Thus  the  immense  corps  of  Russian  officials  is 
strictly  divided  into  castes,  ruled  by  military  disci- 
pline,   and    distinguished    everywhere    by    their    uni- 

184 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

forms,  easily  managed  and  superintended.  Neverthe- 
less, there  is  no  secret  in  the  management  of  the 
departmental  affairs  which  is  not  betrayed  to  inter- 
ested parties  for  money;  and  there  is  no  officer  who 
can  not  be  bought  in  one  way  or  another.  The 
emperor  is  fully  aware  of  this,  but  can  not  help  it, 
and  I  heard  of  some  tricks  that  are  too  good  not 
to  be  told. 

Two  noblemen  had  a  lawsuit  for  an  immense 
amount  of  money  before  the  Senate,  the  Russian 
Supreme  Court  of  Justice.  The  party  who,  in  any 
equitable  court,  had  every  prospect  to  gain  the  case 
accidentally  arrived  first  in  St.  Petersburg,  applied 
to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  Senate,  who  had  to  report 
in  this  case,  and  offered  him  a  proportionate  bribe 
if  he  would  but  carry  out  the  demands  of  justice  in 
deciding  the  case  in  his  favor.  The  chief  clerk 
accepted  it,  promising  his  full  aid  and  assistance ; 
and  it  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  Russian  officials 
that,  if  they  have  taken  bribery  from  one  party, 
they  never  can  be  bought  by  the  other.  Shortly 
afterward  the  defendant  arrived  in  the  capital ;  ap- 
plying to  the  same  chief  clerk,  he  soon  learned 
that  he  had  been  bought  already  by  his  antagonist. 
In  order  to  attain  his  aim,  he  was  obliged  to  resort 
to  another  trick.  He  called  upon  the  chief  clerk 
and  asked  how  much  he  would  have  to  pay  to  be 
allowed  to  examine  all  the  original  documents  which 
the  plaintiff  had  submitted ;  they  agreed  upon  the 
price  of  25,000  rubies.  Upon  further  inquiry  as  to 
what  evening  the  clerk  would  bring  the  papers  to 
the  defendant's  house,  where  he  would  receive  the 
stipulated  sum  and  an  elegant  champagne  supper, 
the  clerk   answered  that   he  could   not  come  before 

185 


MAX   LIUENTHAL,. 

eight  days.     The  time  was  then  agreed  upon,  and  on 
a  stormy  winter  night  the  clerk  appeared  in  the  de- 
fendant's house  with  an  immense  load  of  papers  and 
documents.   He  found  tlie  gentleman  sitting  at  a  bright 
burning  fire,  was  received  with  the  utmost  courtesy, 
and    after    having    freely    participated    of    excellent 
champagne,  the  conversation  turned  to  business.    The 
clerk   handed  over  the  papers  he  had  brought  with 
him,  while  at  the  same  time  a  bundle  of  bills  was 
handed  to  him.     While  he  was  eagerly  counting  the 
money  the  defendant  took  the  documents  and  threw 
them  in  the  fire,  and  before  the  clerk  could  rise  to 
save  them  they  were  enveloped  in  flames.     The  bit- 
terest altercation  ensued;  but  all  to  no  avail,  as  the 
fire  rapidly  consumed  the  costly  fuel.     The  defend- 
ant dismissed  the  clerk,  exclaiming  angrily  that  now 
he  would  settle  the  whole  business  according  to  his 
views.     On  the  next  morning,  therefore,  he  appeared 
in  the   Senate,   made   a   complaint   against   the   clerk 
before   one    of    the    Procurators    (Supreme   Judges) 
that  his  suit  never  comes  to  trial,  the  papers  being 
detained    intentionally    by    the    clerk;    he    therefore 
begged   to    send    for   the   clerk    and   the   documents. 
But  what  was  his  astonishment  when  the  clerk  ap- 
peared, bringing  all  the  papers  which  the  defendant 
supposed  he  had  burnt  the  night  before.     The  clerk, 
fully  anticipating  a  trick,   during  the  eight   days  of 
delay  had  caused  copies  to  be  made  of  all  the  papers 
wanted;  the  defendant  then  had  paid  25,000  rubles 
for  copies  only,  and  as  he  had  drawn  the  attention 
of  the   Supreme   Judge  to  the  final   decision   of   his 
lawsuit,  in  a  fortnight  it  was  decided  against  him. 

Again,  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Mr. 
Perowski,   a   man   of   great   activity   and   undoubted 

186 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

honesty,  complained  to  the  emperor  several  times  of 
the  venality  of  the  Russian  police  in  the  capital.  The 
emperor,  wearied  of  these  continual  complaints, 
wanted  a  decided  proof.  The  minister  promised  it 
in  twenty-four  hours.  Having  returned  to  his  pal- 
ace, he  immediately  sent  for  the  general  of  the  po- 
lice, ordering  him  to  send  a  captain  upon  whose  in- 
tegrity he  could  rely  fully,  as  he  wanted  him  for 
an  important  errand.  One  of  the  captains  soon 
appeared  before  the  minister.  This  one  told  him 
that  he  had  been  informed  of  the  existence  of  a 
gambling  house  on  the  Sennoy  (Haymarket),  nam- 
ing the  number;  he  ordered  him  to  surround  it  dur- 
ing the  night,  arrest  all  the  gamblers,  and  report  the 
next  niorning.  The  captain,  with  an  adequate  force, 
surrounded  the  house  and  detected  the  guilty  parties 
in  the  midst  of  their  gambling.  The  greatest  confu- 
sion ensued,  but  there  was  no  escape ;  cards,  money, 
etc.,  were  confiscated  and  the  parties  declared  under 
arrest.  After  the  first  consternation  had  subsided, 
the  gamblers  requested  the  captain  to  take  some 
wine  with  them  before  he  took  them  away.  He 
did  so,  and  after  half  an  hour's  conversation  they 
took  him  aside  and  offered  him  an  amount  of  money 
if  he  would  let  them  go.  He  sternly  refused,  but 
they  offered  larger  sums,  stating  that  he  would  only 
disgrace  men  of  standing  in  the  community  without 
any  profit  to  himself,  and  that  he  should  rather 
pocket  the  offered  bribe.  Money  is  dangerous  and 
seducing,  and  at  last  our  captain  consented  to  the 
offer.  On  the  next  morning  he  reported  in  person 
to  the  minister  that  he  had  found  no  gambling  house 
whatever.  But  what  was  his  surprise,  when  the 
door  of   the  minister's   room   opened ;  the  gamblers 

187 


MAX    UUENTHAIv. 

one  by  one  came  out  of  it  and  testified  to  the  con- 
trary, all  of  them  having  been  appointed  by  the  min- 
ister's private  police  to  prove  the  captain's  venality. 
The  poor  fellow  had  to  go  to  Siberia,  to  reflect  there 
on  the  minister's  ingenuity. 

Again,  the  same  minister  had  been  informed  that 
a  gambler,  who  played  with  marked  cards,  commit- 
ted great  mischief  in  the  capital.  He  ordered  one 
of  the  captains  of  police  to  search  his  house,  and  in 
case  he  v/ould  find  the  corpus  delicti  to  arrest  the 
gambler.  The  captain  detected  the  cards  behind  a 
looking-glass ;  the  culprit  threw  himself  at  his  feet, 
begging  to  give  the  ofificer  whatever  he  had  won  by 
his  criminal  gambling  if  he  would  let  him  go.  He 
handed  him  a  Russian  government  paper  of  a  few 
thousand  dollars ;  the  captain  accepted  it,  burnt  the 
cards  and  left  the  house.  On  the  next  morning  the 
gambler  made  complaint  before  the  minister  against 
the  captain  that  he  had  searched  his  house,  had 
found  nothing,  but  that  he  himself  was  missing  a 
government  paper  of  so  many  thousand  dollars,  that 
he  suspected  the  captain  to  have  robbed  him  of  it, 
and  that  he  begged  leave  to  search  the  captain's 
premises.  This  was  done,  the  paper  was  found,  and 
that  poor  fellow,  too,  had  to  go  to  Siberia. 

Thus  continually  one  rogue  outwits  the  other,  but 
notwithstanding  all  sort  of  experiences,  the  proper 
inscription  upon  the  Russian  departments  of  justice 
and  administration  should  be :  "Temples  of  Bribery." 


188 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

VII. 

THE  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  MINISTER. 

It  was  Friday  morning  at  eleven  o'clock  when 
my  sleigh  stopped  at  the  minister's  palace.  I  felt 
very  uneasy  when  ascending  the  marble  stairs,  in  the 
anticipation  of  meeting  such  an  influential  Russian 
grandee.  At  the  hands  of  the  Russian  officials,  with 
whom  I  had  to  deal  till  then,  I  had  encountered  such 
disagreeable  treatment  that  I  did  not  know  what  to 
expect  from  this  interview  so  ardently  desired.  As 
soon  as  I  had  alighted,  two  porters  opened  the  large 
glass  door;  one  of  them  took  my  cloak,  the  other 
showed  me  into  the  salon.  In  the  first  antechamber 
I  found  a  host  of  couriers,  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  carry  the  minister's  dispatch  on  horseback 
to  the  different  departments  of  the  capital.  One  of 
them  opened  the  door  into  the  large  reception  room, 
decorated  with  the  minister's  library,  different  pic- 
tures and  maps.  A  clerk  is  there  continually  in  at- 
tendance to  announce  to  the  minister  those  who  wish 
to  see  him ;  he  asked  me  in  the  Russian  language 
what  I  wanted,  but  totally  unacquainted  with  that 
northern  vernacular,  I  did  not  understand  him.  I 
answered  in  French,  which  was  unintelligible  to  him ; 
but  on  my  handing  him  the  letter  of  introduction 
from  the  Bavarian  Embassy,  he  courteously  took  it 
from  me  and  disappeared  into  the  minister's  apart- 
ment. 

There,  then,  I  stood  alone  in  that  mighty  hall  at 
the  threshold  of  my  future  career.  My  fate  depended 
on  the  impression  I  should  make  upon  my  future 
chief ;  of  that  I  was  fully  aware.  I  knew  very  well 
that  this  hour  would  decide  my  lot  for  a  great  many 

189 


MAX   UUliNTHAL,. 

years ;  but  totally  unacquainted  with  diplomatic  con- 
versation, and  having  never  had  any  intercourse  with 
such  high-bred  aristocracy,  I  felt  exceedingly  uneasy ; 
my  heart  beat  loudly,  and  I  put  my  whole  trust  in 
the  God  of  Israel  and  the  good  and  holy  cause  to 
which   I   had   dedicated  my  best   energies. 

I  had  waited  scarcely  ten  minutes,  when  the  di- 
rector of  the  minister's  private  ofHce  came  out  to 
me,  and  informed  me  in  French  that  the  minister 
would  receive  me  immediately.  The  door  of  the 
salon  was  opened,  and  I  stood  in  the  presence  of 
Minister  Uwaroff.  I  felt  at  once  easy  and  contented, 
and  all  my  anxiety  had  disappeared.  Instead  of  a 
Russian  bear,  whom  I  had  expected  to  meet,  I  found 
a  thorough  gentleman,  whose  highly  intellectual  feat- 
ures made  the  most  favorable  impression  on  me. 
Uwaroff  is  a  man  of  middle  size,  lean  and  thin ;  but 
his  high  forehead,  sharp  eyes,  aquiline  nose,  and  fine 
mouth,  showing  at  once  the  philosopher,  the  shrewd 
statesman,  and  kind-hearted  disposition,  win  for  him 
at  once  the  heart  of  everyone  who  comes  in  contact 
with  him.  His  aristocratic  bearing  is  refined  and 
polished  by  his  thorough  education ;  he  speaks  the 
modern  languages  as  fluently  as  his  native  tongue, 
and  having  published  several  works  on  Goethe,  on 
education,  etc.,  in  the  French  language,  Alexandre 
Dumas,  the  celebrated  French  author,  gave  the  ver- 
dict that  no  Frenchman  could  have  used  better  lan- 
guage. He  is  distinguished  as  a  scholar  in  the 
classics,  and  at  a  dinner  given  to  him  by  the  Uni- 
versity of  Dorpat,  he  was  the  only  one  among  the 
professors  that  was  able  to  give  a  toast  and  to  con- 
verse fluently  in  the  Greek  language.  Notwithstand- 
ing his   high   learning,   he   is   one   of   the   shrewdest 

190 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

Russian  diplomats ;  and  I  may  say  of  him  that  by 
his  erudition  he  is  a  European,  by  his  station  a 
Rsusian.  He  wore  a  rich  morning  gown,  and  while 
I  bowed  to  him  he  had  come  up  to  me,  shook  hands 
with  me,  and  addressed  me  in  German,  saying:  "I 
am  very  happy  to  see  you,  doctor,  in  St.  Petersburg; 
your  minister  recommends  you  highly,  and  you  have 
arrived  at  the  proper  moment.  The  emperor  has 
just  established  a  committee  of  the  ministers  to  take 
the  present  condition  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  into  con- 
sideration. I  was  in  want  of  such  men  as  you,  and 
your  services,  I  hope,  will  be  as  useful  to  your  breth- 
ren as  welcome  to  the  government."  Thanking  him 
for  this  kind  reception,  I  handed  him  the  letter 
of  recommendation  from  the  Russian  Embassy  at 
Munich.  He  read  it  attentively  and  then  turning  to 
me,  said :  "Count  Severin  confirms  the  letter  of 
your  minister,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  make 
your  fortune  in  Russia."  After  having  inquired  con- 
cerning my  birthplace,  the  university  where  I  had  fin- 
ished my  studies,  the  faculty  in  which  I  had  graduated, 
and  having  perused  the  testimonials  I  presented  to 
him,  he  continued :  "Well,  doctor,  you  must  call 
tomorrow  evening,  when  I  will  state  to  you  my  ideas 
about  the  reform  of  Jewish  education,  and  hear  your 
opinion ;  you  must  tarry  some  time  in  St.  Petersburg 
before  you  enter  on  your  office  in  Riga ;  your  time 
shall  not  be  lost,  and  I  will  assist  you  in  making  the 
best  of  it.  Wait  a  moment,  and  I  will  write  you  a  let- 
ter of  recommendation  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
which  you  will  hand  him  immediately,  and  he  will 
be  pleased  to  know  you." 

While  he  was  sitting  down  to  write  the  letter,   I 
looked  about  me  in  his  gorgeous  salon.     The  walls 

191 


MAX   UUENTHAI^. 

were  covered  with  red  silk,  richly  embroidered  and 
decorated  with  a  host  of  masterly  paintings.  On 
the  south  side  was  an  immense  French  chimney  with 
a  brisk  wood  fire  (to  which  the  minister  was  fond 
of  attending  himself)  and  ornamented  with  an  im- 
mense looking-glass  and  all  kinds  of  costly  French 
fancy  work ;  in  the  midst  of  the  room  stood  the  large 
official  green  table,  the  imperial  Russian  color,  and 
all  kinds  of  comfortable  sofas  and  chairs  around 
it ;  the  minister  sat  in  an  office  chair,  and  I  had 
another  one  offered  to  me.  How  plain  the  govern- 
ment offices  in  Germany  look  in  comparison  with 
these  salons !  It  is  the  might  and  wealth  of  Russia 
that  is  represented  in  every  government  office  in  the 
capital. 

The  minister  had  sealed  the  letter,  handed  it  to  me, 
and  said :  "Doctor,  take  it  immediately  to  Count 
Stroganoff,  and  be  sure  to  come  tomorrow  evening, 
for  we  must  become  better  acquainted." 

I  left  and  was  so  much  surprised  at  this  reception 
and  so  much  gratified  with  its  result  that,  in  the  grat- 
itude of  my  heart,  I  recited  all  the  psalms  I  knew 
by  heart.  My  ^leigh  stopped  round  the  corner  of 
the  next  square,  and  showing  the  minister's  letter, 
I  was  ushered  immediately  into  the  presence  of 
Count  StroganolT.  I  did  not  feel  as  uneasy  as  be- 
fore, and  stepped  courageously  into  the  salon.  The 
count,  dismissed  from  his  high  office  two  years 
afterwards,  was  quite  a  dififerent  man  from  Uwaroff. 
He  was  less  of  a  statesman  than  a  general,  and  I 
was  really  surprised  to  see  a  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior in  military  uniform,  with  the  large  epaulets 
of  a  general.  I  could  not  understand  how  a  general 
could   administer   the   civil    interests    of   the   empire, 

192 


MY   TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

but  most  of  the  ministers  are  military  men;  even  the 
president  of  the  highest  imperial  ecclesiastical  court, 
the  Synod,  Count  Pratasoff,  is  a  general  of  the  Hus- 
sars ;  but  Russia  is  ruled  more  after  military  discipline 
than  principles  of  justice,  and  thus  this  difference 
between  Europe  and  Russia  is  easily  explained.  The 
count  was  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  tall  size,  and 
of  frank,  open  manners.  "I  am  glad  to  see  you," 
he  addressed  me  in  French ;  "something  ought  and 
must  be  done  for  the  regeneration  of  your  brethren ; 
you  are  a  stranger  here,  and  do  not  know  the  mode 
of  life  of  your  coreligionists;  try  your  best  to  co- 
operate with  the  imperial  government,  and  your  serv- 
ices will  be  gratefully  acknowledged.  But  do  not 
think  the  task  an  easy  one.  You  will  have  to  over- 
come great  difficulties,  but  trust  in  the  good  cause, 
and  whenever  you  need  my  advice  you  may  call  with- 
out ceremony."  He  then  put  some  other  questions 
to  me,  and  saying  that  he  would  send  me  a  few 
questions  to  which  I  might  send  him  an  answer  from 
Riga,  he  dismissed  me,  and  I  returned  happy  as  a 
king  to  my  residence.  The  Jews,  who  anxiously 
awaited  my  return,  congratulated  me  on  the  success 
of  this  first  interview,  and  gave  me  during  the  Sab- 
bath all  manner  of  advices  and  opinions  to  lay  before 
Minister  Uwaroff  on  Saturday  night. 

On  that  evening  I  arrived  punctually  at  his  palace, 
and  was  admitted  immediately.  After  being  seated, 
the  minister  addressed  me  thus :  "It  is  but  a  short 
time  since  the  emperor  has  established  a  committee 
to  take  the  present  condition  of  the  Jews  into  con- 
sideration. Count  Risselofif,  the  Minister  of  the  Im- 
perial Domains,  is  appointed  president  of  it.  We 
are  really  at  a  loss,  doctor,  how  to  begin  this  im- 

193 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

mense  task  of  reforming  this  highly  gifted  people. 
They  are  opposed  to  all  and  every  European  civili- 
zation. They  move  in  their  own  sphere,  careless 
about  everything  that  is  going  on  about  and  around 
them,  and  till  now  no  means  have  succeeded  in  stir- 
ring them  from  their  lethargy.  The  emperor  has 
granted  them  several  rights  and  privileges ;  in  the 
ukase  dated  April  13,  1837,  an  exemption  from  mili- 
tary service  was  granted  those  who  would  apply  them- 
selves to  classical  studies,  or  become  farmers ;  but 
all  in  vain.  Our  schools  are  open  to  them,  but  they 
do  not  visit  them;  they  spend  all  their  time  in  tlieir 
trades  and  the  study  of  their  Talmud.  The  em- 
peror is  tired  of  these  resultless  trials.  He  wishes 
something  substantial  to  be  done  quickly,  and  if  the 
Jews  will  let  this  occasion  pass  without  showing 
their  desire  to  carry  out  the  emperor's  intention,  I 
fear  bad,  very  bad,  times  will  be  in  store  for  them, 
while  the  brightest  future  is  awaiting  them  if  they 
seize  this  opportunity  of  amalgamating  themselves 
with  European  civilization.  I  am  a  friend  of  your 
people ;  believe  me,  if  we  had  such  Jews  as  I 
met  in  the  dilTerent  capitals  of  Germany,  we  would 
treat  them  with  the  utmost  distinction,  but  our  Jews 
are  entirely  different  from  those  in  other  countries. 
I  wish  to  hear  your  views,  and  if  practicable,  I  shall 
communicate  them  to  the  committee  of  ministers." 
I  replied :  "Being  a  foreigner,  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  intentions  of  the  Russian  government  as 
well  as  with  the  intellectual,  moral  and  political  con- 
dition of  the  Russian  Jews,  it  would  be  wrong  on 
my  part  either  to  give  advice  or  to  express  a  decided 
opinion.  Nevertheless,  I  would  venture  to  give  my 
ideas  respecting  three  points :     First,  Jewish  educa- 

194 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

tion  must  become  less  exclusively  Talmudic;  as  long 
as  they  devote  the  best  years  of  their  children  to 
the  study  of  Hebrew  books  only,  without  teaching 
them  either  the  native  tongue  of  their  country  or  the 
elementary  branches  of  secular  education,  they  will 
always  remain  aloof  without  participating  in  the  com- 
mon civilization.  But  under  present  circumstances 
they  could  not  possibly  visit  the  public  and  higher 
schools  as  they  do  not  understand  sufficiently  well 
the  Russian  language  in  which  the  different  subjects 
are  taught,  and  they  are  full  of  mistrust  lest  by 
becoming  acquainted  with  another  mode  of  life  their 
children  might  become  estranged  from  their  religion. 
It  seems,  therefore,  absolutely  necessary  to  establish 
Jewish  schools  for  themselves,  in  order  that  they 
themselves  may  superintend  the  religious  instruction, 
and  the  government  may  have  the  guarantee  that  the 
children  will  be  taught  in  the  different  branches  nec- 
essary for  their  future  civil  and  political  development." 

"In  this  respect  I  coincide  with  you  fully,"  inter- 
rupted the  minister,  "and  I  will  direct  you  to  draw  up 
a  plan  for  different  higher  and  lower  schools.  But 
what  next?" 

"Their  aversion  to  becoming  farmers,"  I  contin- 
ued, "is  quite  natural.  It  is  the  consequence  of  all 
the  medieval  persecutions  during  which  bloody  period 
the  hunted  Jew  was  bound  to  acquire  such  property, 
as  he  could  carry  along  with  himself,  when  the 
despotic  will  of  any  avaricious  sovereign  banished 
him  from  the  country  in  order  to  confiscate  his  prop- 
erty. Besides,  since  in  almost  all  the  European  coun- 
tries the  Jew  was  forbidden  by  law  to  acquire  real 
estate,  how  should  he  be  used  to  till  and  plough  it? 
And  this   condition,   which   has   obtained   during  iif- 

195 


MAX   ULIENTHAI,. 

teen  or  eighteen  centuries,  can  not  be  overcome  at 
once.  But  let  the  emperor  encourage  them,  let  ways 
and  means  be  devised  earnestly  how  to  make  them 
good  farmers,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  gifted 
Jews  will  soon  become  fond  of  and  acquainted  with 
agriculture." 

"The  committee,"  answered  the  minister,  "is  earn- 
estly discussing  this  important  subject,  and  is  deter- 
mined to  carry  out  some  plan.  But  we  have  failed 
already  so  many  times  that  I  doubt  whether  we  will 
succeed  without  applying  extraordinary  means." 

"Every  obstacle,"  I  eagerly  replied,  "will  be  over- 
come readily  if  His  Majesty  will  grant  the  Jews 
at  once  full  and  complete  emancipation.  This  is  the 
only  solution  of  the  riddle  that  puzzles  so  many  emi- 
nent statesmen.  France,  in  the  time  of  the  revolu- 
tion, without  any  restriction  or  condition  whatever, 
granted  the  Jews  each  and  every  right  of  French 
citizenship,  and  the  Jews,  though  in  Alsace  they  are 
very  backward,  have  become  entirely  amalgamated; 
they  are  French  citizens  to  the  bone,  occupy  high 
and  glorious  stations  not  only  in  the  civil  and  mili- 
tary service,  but  even  as  members  of  the  highest 
scientific  institutions.  But  in  Germany,  where  the 
emancipation  of  the  Jews  is  promised  and  never 
granted,  where  one  part  of  the  government  plays 
the  liberal,  while  the  Diet  assumes  the  part  of  the 
intolerant  or  vice  versa,  the  government  raises  only 
dissatisfied  citizens.  The  Jews  in  Prussia,  for  in- 
stance, are  as  well  prepared  for  emancipation  and 
are  as  fully  entitled  to  its  enjoyment  as  any  portion 
of  the  Christian  community.  There  is  no  reproach 
whatever  to  be  made  to  the  Jews,  but  now  the  gov- 
ernment assumes  the  title  of  a  'Christian  State,'  and 

196 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

all  the  exertions  made  by  the  Jews  have  proved 
abortive  and  discouraged  a  great  many  parents  from 
sending  their  children  to  universities,  this  being  the 
sure  path  towards  future  apostacy.  Let  the  em- 
peror at  once  proclaim  the  emancipation  of  the  Jews, 
and  let  him  then  issue  any  ukase  whatever  to  begin 
the  work  of  Jewish  reform  in  earnest,  to  cut  short 
the  exclusive  study  of  the  Talmud,  and  although  to- 
tally unacquainted  with  the  character  of  the  Russian 
Jews,  I  dare  to  avouch  that  in  ten  years  hence  they 
will  surpass  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  the 
imperial  government.  The  emperor  is  not  thwarted 
by  the  tedious  consultations  of  a  parliament — his  will 
is  law — let  him  set  a  magnanimous  and  liberal  ex- 
ample to  Europe  and  he  will  be  applauded  by  all 
good  men  and  be  called  the  benefactor  of  our  race. 
He  is  autocrat,  why  should  or  could  he  not  do  it?" 

The  minister  had  listened  attentively,  surprised 
and  pleased  with  my  enthusiasm,  but  answered :  "It 
is  true ;  the  emperor  is  autocrat,  but  even  the  em- 
peror can  not  do  as  he  pleases ;  every  man's  actions 
are  circumscribed  by  circumstances.  But,  doctor, 
your  enthusiasm  is  of  no  avail.  The  Jews  must  take 
the  initiative ;  they  must  try  to  win  the  favor  of  the 
emperor — then  their  hopes  and  wishes  in  this  country 
of  absolute  government  may  be  accomplished  quicker 
than  in  any  other  country." 

I  sighed,  and  kept  silent.  I  understood  that  the 
old  game  was  to  be  played  here,  too.  I  was  aware 
that  it  required  all  the  energy,  perseverance,  ability 
and  suppleness  of  the  Jewish  character  to  attain  the 
desired  end,  besides  having  to  overcome  the  aversion 
and  reluctance  of  the  Jews  themselves. 

But  the  minister  interrupted  my  silent  meditation 

197 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

and  continued:  "I  consider  it  best  that  you  set  your 
ideas  down  in  writing.  I  shall  order  the  Counselor 
Duksta-Dykshinski  to  translate  it  into  Russian.  Call 
on  him  next  Monday — he  is  in  the  department  on 
the  other  side  of  my  palace.  He  speaks  French  and 
German  fluently,  and  will  assist  you  in  anything  you 
may  want.  When  you  have  finished,  call  again — I 
shall  always  be  ready  to  receive  you." 

With  these  kind  words  he  dismissed  me,  and  I 
hurried  home.  I  felt  exceedingly  uneasy  and  dis- 
contented. I  knew  that  the  Jews  had  not  yet  reached 
that  high  mark  of  civilization  to  make  the  refusal 
of  complete  emancipation  a  warranted  reproach  to 
the  government.  I  perceived,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  Russian  Jew  in  general  was  not  below  the 
degree  of  civilization  which  the  Russian  people  oc- 
cupy, but  was  even  above  it,  and  saw  there  was  rea- 
son enough  to  justify  the  mistrust  of  my  coreligion- 
ists. But  "might  is  above  right,"  and  I  knew  that  I 
had  to  prepare  myself  for  a  hard  struggle. 

VIII. 

According  to  the  order  of  the  minister  I  called  on 
Monday  forenoon  at  the  Department  of  Public  In- 
struction, on  Counselor  Duksta-Dykshinski.  He  was 
the  chief  clerk  for  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  of 
Poland,  for  those  of  the  Jews,  and  an  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  imperial  committee  of  censors ;  he  had 
attained  the  degree  of  State  Counselor,  was  decorated 
with  several  crosses,  and  wore  the  golden  medal  of 
fifteen  years  of  faithful  service.  A  Russian  func- 
tionary, whether  clerical,  military  or  civil,  is  always 
to   be   regarded   under   all   these   different   views    if 

198 


MY   TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

properly  understood.  Every  functionary  not  a  noble- 
man by  birth  in  the  sense  of  the  word  as  used  in 
Western  Europe,  attains  by  appointment  to  office  a 
degree  of  official  nobility.  These  degrees  are  divided 
in  the  different  branches  of  the  imperial  service  into 
sixteen  classes ;  they  are  called  in  the  Russian  lan- 
guage Tschin,  and  if  moving  in  this  official  atmos- 
phere you  continually  hear  of  nothing  but  Tschin. 
Every  degree  is  distinguished  by  a  special  title,  as 
Weil-Born,  High  Weil-Born,  Excellency,  High  Excel- 
lency, etc.  And  every  officer  against  whom  no  com- 
plaint had  been  brought  in  the  course  of  three  years 
is  entitled,  as  a  matter  of  course,  either  to  a  higher 
degree  or  to  a  monetary  reward,  or  to  one  of  the 
imperial  orders.  The  Russian  empire  has  seven  of 
these  orders;  the  order  of  Stanislaus,  Wladimir, 
White  Eagle,  Alexander  Nefski,  Andrew,  St.  George 
and  St.  Catherine,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  the  highest 
ambition  with  the  Russian  officials  to  obtain  as  many 
of  them  as  possible.  When,  before  the  decisive  bat- 
tle of  Austerlitz,  Napoleon  was  visited  by  a  body  of 
Russian  generals  sent  to  him  by  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, he  remarked  that  they  looked  like  the  starry 
heaven.  And  when  in  the  year  1844  a  controversy 
about  astronomy  arose  one  evening  in  the  circle  of 
the  imperial  family,  and  nobody  being  there  amongst 
all  the  aides-de-camp  to  decide  the  disputed  question, 
the  emperor,  by  the  advice  of  his  brother,  the  Grand 
Duke  Michael,  sent  for  the  celebrated  astronomer 
Struve,  the  president  of  the  observatory.  The  emi- 
nent scholar  soon  appeared,  explained  the  subject  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  imperial  master,  and  was  in- 
vited to  pass  the  evening  in  the  circle  of  the  family. 
As  long  as  he  had  to  speak  on  any  scientific  subject, 

199 


MAX   LIIvIENTHAL. 

he  was  quite  alive,  talkative  and  sociable,  but  as  soon 
as  these  matters  were  dropped  and  the  conversation 
turned  to  other  subjects,  Mr.  Struve  became  silent, 
awkward  and  uneasy.  The  emperor,  observing  this 
strange  behavior,  remarked  to  his  brother:  "These 
scholars  are  quite  a  curious  and  extraordinary  kind 
of  beings ;  when  out  of  their  proper  atmosphere  they 
do  not  know  how  to  move."  "Mr.  Struve,"  repHed 
the  grand  duke,  "is  quite  excusable ;  the  astronomer, 
observing  on  the  breast  of  your  generals  so  many 
stars  in  the  improper  place,  is  quite  puzzled  in  his 
combinations,  and  can  not  find  his  way  through  this 
reversed  starry  heaven."  This  mania  for  decorations 
pervades  all  the  official  classes,  and  astonishes  the 
stranger  who,  arriving  from  Germany,  is  not  used  to 
such  vain  and  void  ostentation.  I  still  recollect  very 
well  how  shocked  I  was  when,  being  on  the  sick- 
bed, the  physician  entered  my  room  decorated  with 
two  immense  stars.  Duysta-Dykshinski  had  attained 
the  degree  of  state,  had  several  crosses  in  his  button- 
hole, wore  some  round  his  neck,  although  he  was 
one  of  those  few  officers  who  did  not  like  to  parade 
these  marks  of  distinction  except  on  court  days. 

As  stated,  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  committee 
of  censors.  This  committee  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant safeguards  of  Russian  autocracy  and  despo- 
tism ;  and  Nicholas,  when  appointing  its  president, 
applied  to  none  other  for  advice  as  to  whom  he 
should  choose  for  this  responsible  position  except  to 
his  field  marshal  Paskewitch.  The  marshal,  used  to 
repressing  every  free  thought  and  every  free  move- 
ment in  rebellious  Poland,  recommended  the  right 
kind  of  man,  and  with  an  iron  grasp  he  sways  the 
scepter  of  his  censorship.    The  members  of  the  com- 

200 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

mittee  read  all  the  books  imported  by  booksellers 
from  foreign  countries,  and  decide  whether  the  cir- 
culation shall  be  permitted  or  refused.  If  they  per- 
form their  duties  faithfully  for  ten  years,  their  sal- 
ary is  doubled ;  half  of  this  is  bestowed  on  them  as 
a  life  annuity,  inducement  sufficient  not  to  be  liberal 
in  exercising  power.  It  is  rather  curious  sometimes 
to  take  a  foreign  paper  in  hand  and  to  find  half  of 
the  contents  taken  off  by  some  chemical  process ;  this 
proceeding,  however,  being  preferable  by  far  to  that 
of  Germany,  where  they  confiscate  either  the  whole 
paper  or  cut  off  whole  leaves.  This  committee  has 
the  superintendence  over  the  censors  appointed 
throughout  the  whole  empire.  Duksta-Dykshinski,  a 
man  of  some  forty  years  of  age,  received  me  very 
kindly.  Speaking  French  and  German  very  fluently, 
our  conversation  proceeded  very  smoothly,  and  at 
the  close  of  it  he  admonished  me  not  to  be  too  self- 
confident.  "You  are  still  very  young,"  he  added, 
"unacquainted  with  the  sly  and  slippery  ways  of  the 
art  of  government.  Be  on  the  lookout  that  you  be 
not  entrapped."  He  invited  me  for  the  afternoon  to 
his  house  in  order  to  introduce  me  to  his  family  and 
become  better  acquainted  with  me. 

I  went  there  in  the  afternoon  at  five  o'clock  and 
found  the  nicest  family  I  ever  met  with.  The  lady 
spoke  the  Russian,  Polish,  German  and  French  lan- 
guages, and  was  accomplished  in  every  way  and  re- 
spect, a  tender  wife,  an  affectionate  mother,  an  ex- 
cellent housekeeper  and  a  fine  lady.  The  children, 
eight  in  number,  surpassed  one  another  in  obedience 
to  their  parents,  in  mutual  affection  and  in  general 
deportment.  The  counselor,  perceiving  my  astonish- 
ment, remarked,  "Yes,  doctor,  I  think  I  am  one  of 

201 


MAX  liue;nthal. 

those  happy  men  who  have  no  trouble  at  all  with 
their  children.  And  do  you  know  how  I  accom- 
plished this  exemplary  education  of  my  children?  I 
followed  but  two  rules :  the  first  was  that  the  strict- 
est attention  was  paid  to  the  education  of  my  oldest 
child,  and  having  succeeded  in  the  education  of  my 
oldest  daugliter,  she,  as  a  matter  of  course,  assisted 
nie  in  training  the  others  by  setting  them  a  good  ex- 
ample ;  and  secondly,  as  soon  as  one  of  my  children 
begins  to  show  his  own  will,  it  will  and  must  be 
taught  obedience.  Thus  you  will  never  hear  quarrel- 
ing or  grumbling  in  my  family ;  no  corporal  punish- 
ment is  made  use  of ;  love  and  affection  directs  the 
intercourse  of  us  all."  The  older  children  also  spoke 
the  four  above-named  languages,  and  without  being 
disturbed  by  my  presence  continued  their  studies. 
The  Russians — I  mean  the  higher  and  better  classes 
in  general — spend  a  great  deal  of  money  and  atten- 
tion on  the  education  of  the  rising  generation,  and 
are  encouraged  and  supported  therein  by  the  gov- 
ernment. In  the  palaces  of  the  higher  nobility  you 
will  find  French,  English  and  German  tutors ;  and  a 
teacher  who  stays  for  fifteen  years  in  one  and  the 
same  family,  finishing  the  education  of  the  young 
counts  and  princes,  attains  a  certain  degree  of  Rus- 
sian nobility  and  is  decorated  with  the  Order  of 
Stanislaus.  It  is  therefore  generally  acknowledged 
in  western  Europe  that  the  ton  in  the  Russian  noble 
families  is  an  accomplished  one,  fashionable  and  in- 
structive. 

The  counselor,  by  order  of  the  minister,  requested 
me  once  more  to  hand  him  either  in  German  or 
French  my  ideas  on  the  regeneration  of  the  Jews  in 
Russia,  as  he  was  ordered  to  translate  them  into  the 

202 


MY    TRAVKLS    IN    RUSSIA. 

Russian  language.  I  did  so  in  the  course  of  the 
week,  and  the  papers  having  been  translated,  I  was 
summoned  to  appear  on  Thursday  evening  at  7  o'clock 
in  the  minister's  apartment.  I  was  there  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  but  had  to  wait,  as  the  minister  was  still 
enjoying  his  siesta.  He  was  used  to  receiving  official 
visitors  from  eleven  to  three  o'clock,  except  on  Mon- 
day, when  the  Supreme  Privy  Council  met,  and  on 
Tuesday,  when  the  meeting  of  the  different  ministers 
took  place ;  after  three  o'clock  he  took  a  walk,  at  four 
was  dinnertime;  after  dinner  he  took  a  nap  and  was 
not  back  in  his  office  before  seven.  After  having 
waited  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  I  was  ushered  into  his 
presence,  when  he  expressed  himself  as  satisfied  with 
the  contents  of  my  memorandum.  But  while  examin- 
ing the  different  paragraphs,  a  general,  without  hav- 
ing been  announced  by  the  secretary  in  waiting,  rushed 
into  the  salon,  threw  his  hat  with  the  greatest  non- 
chalance upon  the  minister's  table  and  both  embraced 
and  kissed  each  other  with  the  greatest  cordiality,  and 
then  began  a  lively  conversation  in  French.  Knowing 
the  minister  to  be  a  man  of  strict  etiquette,  I  was 
anxious  to  know  who  the  man  was  who  had  entered 
the  salon  so  unceremoniously  and  had  behaved  there 
so  unconstrainedly.  The  minister  soon  satisfied  my 
curiosity  by  introducing  me  to  the  general,  who  was 
no  less  a  personage  than  Count  Pratasoif,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Imperial  Synod.  "Count,"  said  he,  "I 
take  the  pleasure  in  introducing  you  to  Mr.  Lilienthal, 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  and  Physiology,  who  goes  to 
Riga  as  director  of  the  newly  established  school  of 
the  Jewish  congregation."  "Is  the  gentleman  a  Jew?" 
asked  the  count.  "A  Jew  and  a  rabbi  besides,"  an- 
swered the  minister.    "I  hope  he  will  be  of  great  use 

203      - 


MAX    UUENTHAL. 

to  US,  being  highly  recommended  by  our  ambassador 
in  Munich."  The  count  measured  me  with  his  eyes 
from  head  to  foot,  having  perhaps  never  seen  a  Jewr 
who  had  finished  his  course  at  a  university.  "Are  you 
also  acquainted  with  Christian  theology?"  he  said  to 
me.  "Yes,  Your  Excellency,"  I  replied ;  "the  Jews 
have  not  yet  started  a  Jewish  university  for  them- 
selves ;  Jewish  theologians  are  bound  by  law  to  visit  the 
Christian  faculties  of  divinity,  but  this  inconvenience 
proves  of  great  advantage  to  us,  as  we  are  obliged 
to  exercise  our  own  judgment  and  to  select  from  the 
different  lectures  and  subjects  only  those  that  suit  our 
faith  and  our  theological  system."  "Then  you  are  not 
a  converted  Jew  ?"  he  asked  me.  I  smiled  at  that  ques- 
tion and  answered  boldly :  "I  feel  myself  as  sound  a 
Jew  as  the  strictest  in  the  whole  empire."  The  min- 
ister, perceiving  that  the  conversation  would  take  a 
disagreeable  turn,  interrupted  us  by  saying:  "Doctor, 
I  wish  you  would  start  next  week  for  your  place  of 
destination.  Call  on  Saturday  night  about  the  same 
time  as  today  and  I  shall  give  you  then  the  necessary 
instructions."  I  left  the  room,  and  in  riding  home  the 
awkward  questions  of  the  supreme  missionary  of  Rus- 
sia quite  troubled  my  mind  and  my  feelings. 

IX. 

Having  heard  of  the  minister's  intention  to  despatch 
me  in  the  course  of  the  next  week  to  Riga,  the  place 
of  my  destination,  I  had  to  make  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements for  obtaining  the  permission  of  the  police 
to  leave  Petersburg. 

I  therefore  sent  my  passport  on  Friday  morning  to 
the  Captain  of  the  Ward,  informing  him  of  my  de- 

204 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

parture  and  requesting  his  signature.  Tliis  business 
in  both  the  capitals  of  the  Russian  Empire  is  trans- 
acted by  the  porters  of  the  house.  They  have  to  in- 
form the  poHce  of  their  wards  of  the  strangers  w^ho 
move  into  or  remove  from  the  house.  They  report 
everything  that  is  going  on  in  the  house,  thus  forming 
an  important  Hnk  in  the  poHce  system.  If  it  should 
happen  that  anyone  is  not  provided  with  the  necessary 
passports,  or  that  the  obtaining  of  these  papers  is  de- 
layed for  one  cause  or  another,  these  uneducated  fel- 
lows are  the  most  troublesome  and  most  annoying 
creatures  in  the  world.  They  will  call  any  number 
of  times  during  the  day  declaring  that  they  will  report 
you  to  the  police,  and  only  by  bribing  them  with  some 
brandy  will  they  grant  you  the  demanded  delay.  They 
are  called  in  the  Russian  language  Dvornik  (door- 
keeper). I  sent  for  mine,  handed  him  my  paper  and 
got  it  back  without  any  trouble,  signed  and  sealed  by 
the  captain,  in  the  course  of  an  hour.  With  that  doc- 
ument I  hastened  to  the  Bureau  for  Foreigners,  where 
I  was  ordered  to  come  back  on  Tuesday  next,  as  in 
the  meantime  my  name  would  be  published  three  times 
in  the  Russian  and  German  newspaper  of  the  metrop- 
olis. This  has  to  be  done  under  the  pretense  that  the 
creditors  may  be  informed  of  the  departure  of  their 
financial  friend.  The  true  reason,  however,  is  that 
the  secret  police,  the  so-called  gendarmerie,  may  be 
thoroughly  informed  of  the  movement  of  every  indi- 
vidual and  may  call  the  attention  of  the  officers  of  the 
place  to  which  anyone  is  starting  to  the  same  indi- 
vidual, thus  spreading  a  net  over  the  whole  empire 
and  having  an  all-watching  eye  and  control  over  na- 
tives as  well  as  foreigners.  But  even  this  limited 
freedom    of    traveling    has    since   been    forcibly    re- 

205 


MAX   ULUSNTHAL. 

strained,  as  the  natives  can  not  leave  their  country 
except  by  special  permission  of  the  government  even 
for  special  purposes,  as,  for  instance,  recruiting  their 
health  in  a  watering  place  or  for  some  commercial 
enterprise,  besides  paying  for  the  semiannual  passport 
of  each  individual  one  hundred  rubles  silver. 

In  the  meantime  I  tried  to  see  some  of  the  minis- 
ters in  behalf  of  my  future  congregation  in  Riga, 
which  had  an  important  lawsuit  with  the  common 
council  of  that  city,  to  which  I  shall  recur  hereafter. 
I  had  been  requested  by  the  board  of  trustees  to  call 
on  some  of  the  magnates  of  the  empire  in  whose  hands 
the  decision  rested,  to  represent  to  them  the  true  state 
of  the  case,  and  to  induce  them  to  give  their  vote  in 
favor  of  the  just  cause  of  the  Jews.  I  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  again  an  audience  with  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  Count  Stroganoff,  who,  with  his 
usual  candor,  at  once  stated  to  me  that  the  legal  in- 
vestigation in  the  business  had  not  advanced  so  far 
as  to  be  reported  to  the  Council  of  Ministers ;  that  he 
could  give  me  no  decisive  promise,  but  that  I  might 
rest  assured  that  the  mighty  power  of  the  city  of 
Riga  should  exercise  no  influence  whatever,  and  that 
the  case  would  be  decided  according  to  the  strictest 
impartiality. 

I  then  hurried,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  Jewish 
deputies  of  Riga,  to  the  Secretary  of  Poland,  Minister 
Turkul.  The  kingdom  of  Poland,  after  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1831,  although  having  lost  its  constitution  and 
its  independence,  and  although  its  entire  annexation 
to  the  Russian  empire  was  steadily  and  perseveringly 
prepared,  in  the  year  1839  was  yet  governed  separately 
from  Russia.  It  had  no  longer  its  separate  custom 
houses  and  revenues ;  but  some  privileges  had  not  yet 

206 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

been  entirely  abolished,  and  one  of  them  was  that  in 
St.  Petersburg  there  existed  a  peculiar  and  distinct 
department  for  the  kingdom  of  Poland,  whose  chief 
was  the  above-mentioned  Minister  Turkul. 

The  sad  fact  is  apparent  to  even  the  most  casual 
observer  that  the  Poles  themselves,  who  are  in  the 
imperial  service  by  the  thousands  and  occupy  some 
of  the  highest  and  most  responsible  positions  exert 
all  their  abilities  and  their  best  efforts  to  ruin  their 
native  country.  While  in  western  Europe  everyone 
pities  them  for  the  loss  of  their  independence  and  na- 
tionality, while  everyone  admires  their  heroic  deeds 
in  their  last  struggle,  and  the  old  Polish  song,  "Still 
Poland  is  not  lost,"  has  become  one  of  the  favorites  of 
England  the  impartial  observer  needs  must  acknowl- 
edge that  in  Russia  they  willingly  contribute  the  largest 
share  by  proposing  all  kinds  of  plans  and  suggestions 
to  annihilate  Poland,  to  destroy  every  possibility  of 
its  future  resurrection,  and  to  prove  on  every  occasion 
their  readiness  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  autocratic 
czar.  If  you  ask  them,  "How  have  they  become  so 
degenerate?"  they  will  coolly  answer,  "There  is  no 
hope  any  more  for  our  country;  we  have  to  support 
our  families ;  we  are  richly  paid  for  our  services ;  we 
are  highly  rewarded  for  our  faithfulness,  and  after 
all,  we  think  that  Poland  fares  better  by  sharing  the 
glory  of  world-conquering  Russia,  than  by  being  di- 
vided and  torn  to  pieces  by  its  ambitious  magnates." 

The  Minister  Turkul,  one  of  Nicholas'  favorites, 
was  then  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  some  forty  years 
old.  He  is  highly  talented,  well  educated,  and  speaks 
the  modern  languages  with  the  utmost  fluency.  He 
had  risen  to  the  ministerial  chair  with  extraordinary 
rapidity.     He  had  been  appointed  chief  clerk  in  the 

207 


MAX   UUEnTHAL. 

department,  and  was  well  posted  in  all  its  affairs.    The 

minister,  Count  L ,  once  being  absent  on  leave, 

Emperor  Nicholas  visited  the  department,  began  a 
conversation  with  Turkul,  and  found  him  a  man  of 
such  eminent  talents  that  shortly  afterwards  the  min- 
ister was  removed  and  Turkul  appointed  in  his  place. 

He  received  us  very  kindly,  as  the  Russian  grandees 
usually  do,  and  having  listened  to  our  request,  he 
promised  us  his  assistance  as  soon  as  the  documents 
would  be  presented  to  the  committee  of  ministers. 
Having  been  informed  of  my  arrival  by  Count  Uwar- 
off,  he  conducted  quite  a  lively  conversation  with  me 
on  the  subject  of  the  Jews  in  general,  the  reforms  in- 
troduced in  the  temple  of  Warsaw,  the  preacher,  Rev- 
erend Dr.  Goldsmith,  and  spoke  at  great  length  of  the 
theological  seminary  of  that  city  under  the  superin- 
tendency  of  Director  Eichenbaum.  I  remarked  to  him 
that  it  was  rather  strange  that  all  the  pupils  of  that 
seminary  became  teachers  or  merchants,  while  not  one 
of  them  occupied  the  rabbinical  chair.  "The  Collegium 
Rabbinicum  in  Padua,"  I  added,  "boasts  of  a  number 
of  rabbis,  all  pupils  of  that  excellent  institution,  each 
one  surpassing  the  other  in  learning,  piety,  and  schol- 
arship." "I  do  not  know  how  it  comes,"  answered 
the  minister,  "but  I  hope  that  when  the  ofifice  of  the 
rabbis  will  be  put  in  a  favorable  light  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  government,  our  pupils  too  will  not  change 
their  profession."  He  then  requested  me  in  case  I 
should  come  to  Warsaw  to  visit  the  Jewish  schools 
and  to  state  to  him  my  opinion  frankly.  And  wish- 
ing me  every  success  in  my  new  career,  he  dismissed 
me  in  the  most  friendly  manner. 

On  Saturday  night,  as  ordered,  I  called  on  Minister 
Uwaroff  to  take  leave  of  him.    He  handed  me  a  letter 

208 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

of  recommendation  to  Mr.  Napierski,  the  director  of 
the  state  of  Livonia  and  my  future  chief ;  exhorted 
me  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  raise  the  young  school 
to  a  degree  of  perfection,  admonished  me  not  to  be 
discouraged  by  difficulties,  as  the  government  was 
ready  to  support  me  in  any  emergency,  assured  me 
that  the  department  would  gratefully  acknowledge 
and  richly  reward  my  services,  and  accompanying  me 
to  the  door  of  the  salon  he  embraced  me  and  kissed 
me  on  both  cheeks.  I  was  so  overcome  by  this  ex- 
traordinary mark  of  affection  that  I  could  utter 
scarcely  a  word,  and  the  minister  perceiving  with  sat- 
isfaction the  impression  his  amiability  and  gentleness 
had  made  upon  me,  called  me  back  once  more  to  his 
official  table,  put  down  on  a  paper  some  remarks,  or- 
dering me  at  the  same  time  to  write  him  my  opinions 
about  it,  and  kissing  me  once  more  he  shook  hands 
heartily  with  me  and  dismissed  me. 

When  I  was  out  of  the  ministerial  palace  and  was 
hurrying  home  I  did  not  know  what  to  think  of  these 
kisses  of  the  minister.  I  supposed  I  must  have  won 
the  favor  of  the  count  and  he  must  have  become  at- 
tached to  me  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  because  I 
had  never  heard  in  Germany  that  the  chief  deigns  to 
kiss  his  inferiors.  Happy  in  these  thoughts  and  feel- 
ing like  a  king  I  related  to  my  Jewish  acquaintances 
at  home  what  extraordinary  favor  had  been  bestowed 
upon  me.  But  they  laughed  heartily  at  my  ignorance 
of  Russian  customs,  and  assured  me  that  the  Russians 
kiss  each  other  like  men  and  women ;  that  it  is  usually 
of  no  meaning  and  no  importance  whatever;  but  that 
nevertheless  I  should  consider  myself  more  than  hon- 
ored that  a  Russian  minister  condescended  to  kiss  a 
Jew. 

209 


MAX  ULIElNTHAI,. 

After  having  become  acquainted  with  Russian  man- 
ners, I  found  out  that  the  kissing  among  the  Russians 
is  quite  customary  except  during  Lent  (seven  weeks 
before  Easter),  when  the  kissing  is  strictly  forbidden. 
There  exists  then  a  complete  desistence  from  any  en- 
joyment, for  during  these  seven  weeks  the  Russians 
eat  no  meat,  use  even  no  milk  and  all  their  meals  are 
prepared  with  oil.  Bvit  as  soon  as  high  mass  has  been 
performed  in  the  churches  and  the  ceremonies  of  the 
resurrection  have  been  gone  through  on  the  midnight 
before  Easter,  the  Russians  embrace  one  another  in 
rapture  and  ecstacy  with  the  greeting:  "Christ  has 
risen  from  the  dead,"  while  the  kissed  friend  an- 
swers :     "Blessed  be  he  forevermore." 

I  heard  a  fine  anecdote  about  the  late  emperor.  He 
was  accustomed  on  Easter  Sunday,  when  leaving  his 
room,  to  kiss  all  the  sentinels  on  guard,  and  to  recite 
the  above-quoted  greeting.  When  one  Easter  morn- 
ing he  was  leaving  his  room,  he  addressed  the  soldier 
on  guard  with  the  words :  "Christ  has  risen  from  the 
dead,"  the  soldier  answered  boldly :  "Never  more. 
Your  Imperial  Majesty."  "How  so?"  questioned  the 
astonished  monarch.  "I  am  a  Jew,"  answered  the  sen- 
tinel. The  emperor  smiled,  but  ordered  that  on  Easter 
Sunday  a  Jewish  soldier  should  not  be  put  on  guard 
at  his  door. 

X. 

On  Thursday  morning,  the  twenty-eighth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  the  passengers  assembled  in  the  postoffice 
where  two  carriages,  put  on  sleighs,  were  already 
waiting  to  carry  us  to  Riga.  The  conductor  asked  for 
our  passports,  which  after  being  examined  he  put  into 
a  traveling  pouch  hanging  around  his  shoulders.    Thus 

210 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

we  were  again  deprived  of  all  means  of  escape  and 
were  totally  in  the  hands  of  our  conductor,  another 
agent  of  the  police  of  the  empire;  for  without  a  pass- 
port no  one  can  move  in  Russia.  Having  taken  leave 
of  our  acquaintances,  the  sleighs  went  smoothly  oft 
with  us  from  the  capital. 

It  was  a  cold  Russian  winter  day.  Each  and  every 
one  of  us  was  wrapped  in  fur  from  head  to  feet 
to  protect  ourselves  against  the  intense  cold.  Our 
company  consisted  of  eight  passengers,  four  in  a  car- 
riage, and  these  were  drawn  by  four  horses  put  into 
one  line.  Nothing  exceeds  the  swiftness  of  these  little 
animals,  for  we  made  sometimes  twenty-eight  English 
miles  in  a  little  over  an  hour.  The  driver  never  uses 
a  whip,  nor  has  he  any ;  he  only  speaks  to  his  horses : 
"Children,  work,"  or  "My  friends,  hurry  on."  These 
are  his  usual  exhortations,  and  the  horses  understand 
these  warnings  perfectly  and  fly  away  as  if  endowed 
with  the  wings  of  Pegasus.  In  the  more  easterly  part 
of  Russia,  near  Kasan,  they  do  not  keep  the  horses 
in  the  stable,  but  let  them  run  about  at  random ;  on 
being  needed  they  are  caught  in  the  woods  and 
brought  to  the  sleighs  or  the  carriages,  quite  unman- 
ageable. They  must  be  tied  before  they  can  be  har- 
nessed, and  are  not  loosened  before  the  driver  is  in 
his  place,  has  taken  hold  of  the  reins,  and  then  they 
are  ofT  with  a  steam  engine's  rapidity. 

Our  company  consisted  chiefly  of  Gemians,  and 
therefore  the  conversation  soon  became  general  and 
very  interesting.  But  the  road  was  in  a  terrible  con- 
dition at  that  time,  as  all  the  roads  are  in  Russia,  ex- 
cept the  one  leading  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow, 
and  thence  to  Warsaw.  Tossing  from  one  hole  to  the 
other   we   continued    for    hours ;    every   moment   the 

211 


MAX  LIUENTHAI,. 

sleighs  threatened  to  be  upset;  our  drivers  cursed  and 
swore  in  true  Russian  style;  we  were  swung,  rocked, 
balanced  and  counterbalanced  as  if  we  were  in  a  ship 
in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  storm;  the  vehicle  cracked 
and  crashed  in  every  direction,  and  when  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening  we  arrived  at  that  station  where 
supper  was  prepared  for  us,  I  was  so  tired  by  the 
fatigues  that  I  begged  the  conductor  to  leave  me 
there,  as  I  felt  unable  to  continue  the  journey.  I  had 
suffered  severely  from  seasickness  when  on  board  the 
steamboat  from  Liibeck  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  it  lasted 
several  days,  at  that  time,  before  I  recovered  my 
strength ;  now  undergoing  the  same  fatal  rocking  and 
shaking  on  dry  land,  I  felt  seasick  again.  I  used  all 
kinds  of  entreaties  to  be  left  in  that  tavern,  but  the 
passengers  laughed  at  my  discouragement,  exhorted 
me  to  go  with  them,  promised  me  to  stop  the  carriage 
on  the  route  whenever  I  wanted  it,  and  the  two  ladies 
of  the  company  used  all  their  influence  that  I  should 
not  leave  them,  as  I  was  unacquainted  with  the  Rus- 
sian language  and  would  be  left  in  a  place  where  no 
assistance  could  be  given  to  me  in  case  I  really  should 
fall  sick. 

I  consented  to  follow  them,  but  upon  the  explicit 
condition  that  the  driver  should  stop  whenever  I  asked 
it.  It  was  dark  and  freezing  when  we  remounted  our 
carriages.  For  an  hour  and  a  half  it  went  on  tolera- 
bly, but  then  again  I  had  such  a  violent  attack  that 
the  carriage  was  stopped,  I  dismounted  and  fell  sense- 
less and  fainting  to  the  ground.  When  I  awoke  the 
carriages  had  left,  and  I  was  alone  in  the  gloomy  night. 
I  still  heard  the  faint  ringing  of  the  bell-harness,  and 
tried,  running  as  hard  as  I  was  able,  to  overtake  them. 
But  unacquainted  with  the  road,  which  was  entirely 

212 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

covered  with  snow,  and  not  understanding  the  signs  of 
green  bushes,  which  are  put  thereon,  in  order  that  the 
wanderer  may  not  lose  his  way,  I  took  the  wrong  di- 
rection, and  instead  of  following  the  carriages  I  ran 
into  the  woods.  In  my  anguish  I  paid  no  particular 
attention  to  the  hardships  of  the  road,  but  after  hav- 
ing walked  more  than  an  hour  without  tracing  the 
sleighs  I  became  tired  and  alarmed,  as  I  was  fully 
aware  of  the  danger  of  my  position.  There  I  was 
alone  in  the  woods,  in  the  intense  cold  of  a  December 
night;  my  fur  was  stiffly  frozen  and  I  had  no  provi- 
sions at  all  in  my  pockets,  without  passport,  without 
any  legitimate  evidence,  and  I  knew  well  enough  how 
vagrants  are  treated  by  the  Russian  police.  It  was 
snowing  continually,  and  whilst  I  walked  on  I  sank 
into  the  snow  far  above  my  knees,  so  that  sometimes 
I  risked  breaking  my  legs  when  trying  to  rise  from  a 
pit  or  a  hole  into  which  I  had  fallen.  I  looked  about 
to  see  whether  I  could  not  detect  a  house,  whether 
the  rays  of  a  hospitable  light  would  not  show  me  the 
way  out  of  my  terrible  position ;  nothing  stared  me  in 
the  face  but  immense  snow  plains,  surrounded  by  icy 
trees — plains  in  which  the  wolves  were  still  roaming 
and  ravaging.  It  was  near  ten  o^clock  and  I  had  a 
long,  awful  night  before  me;  there  was  no  other  choice 
but  to  march  on,  and  to  try  to  escape  freezing  to  death. 
My  companions,  in  the  meantime,  as  I  heard  after- 
wards, had  left  their  carriages  and  were  anxiously 
searching  for  me.  The  conductor,  who  is  responsible 
for  all  the  passengers  he  carries,  was  quite  bewildered. 
Not  knowing  what  to  do,  he  rode  to  the  next  village 
and  brought  farmers  with  torches  thither  to  look  for 
me.  The  ladies  cried  and  wept  bitterly,  and  nothing 
was  spared  to  trace  me.     But  after  I  had  fainted  I 

213 


MAX  UUENTHAL,. 

went  in  a  wrong  direction,  and  at  about  midnight  I 
felt  my  strength  decUning.  1  froze  horribly  and  could 
hardly  walk  any  further,  so  I  sat  down,  and  with  a 
devotion  never  before  experienced  I  recited  in  the 
midst  of  these  snow  plains  my  Maariv  prayer.'^ 

But  to  stop  was  of  no  avail,  because  then  I  would 
have  fallen  asleep,  and  the  fear  of  being  frozen  to 
death  stirred  up  my  last  energy.  I  thought  of  Hagar's 
wandering  in  the  wilderness  and  remembered  the  ex- 
planation of  one  of  the  commentaries  of  the  Bible,  that 
if  she  had  not  given  herself  up  to  despair,  if  she  had 
continued  her  wanderings  courageously,  she  would 
have  detected  the  well  of  water  that  was  near  her  and 
would  have  spared  herself  the  agony  of  seeing  her  only 
son  languishing  away.  I  took  courage  from  this  remark, 
and  after  having  rested  for  ten  minutes  I  continued 
my  hopeless  march.  Struggling  on  till  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning  through  the  fathomless  snow  I  began  to 
bleed  at  the  nose,  and  again  fainted  away.  Upon  re- 
viving I  strained  all  my  nerves  to  march  on,  but  soon 
to  my  entire  dismay  observed  that  for  hours  I  had 
walked  in  a  circle.  I  therefore  took  a  new  direction, 
and  after  another  half  an  hour's  walk  I  felt  with  real 
rapture  that  the  ground  beneath  me  was  hardening, 
and  I  supposed  that  I  was  again  on  the  road.  But 
then,  instead  of  going  the  way  to  Riga,  I  took  the 
direction  back  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  went  on  till  four 
o'clock  without  meeting  any  person  whatever.  The 
cold  had  increased  intensely ;  I  felt  feverish  through- 
out my  entire  body ;  I  was  unable  to  walk  fur- 
ther. Happy  in  having  found  a  huge  stone,  I  sat 
down  and  began  to  recite  the  prayer  for  the  dying.  I 
remembered  my  dear  old  father,  my  brothers  and  sis- 

"  Evening  prayer. 

214 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

ters,  my  beloved  bride,  and  felt  miserably  unhappy 
that  I  should  die  this  death  without  once  more  seeing 
them,  who  were  dearer  to  me  than  my  life;  that  I 
should  perish  here  without  their  having  any  informa- 
tion of  me.  But  I  felt  my  senses  fainting,  weakness 
and  sleep  overpowered  me,  and  although  struggling 
with  all  the  little  strength  that  was  left,  I  fell  asleep. 
I  could  hardly  have  rested  there  ten  minutes  when 
I  heard  a  human  voice ;  it  sounded  to  me  as  sweet  as 
an  angel's  greeting,  although  it  was  but  a  Russian  serf, 
bringing  a  load  of  hay  to  the  next  city.  He  had  ob- 
served me,  and  astonished  to  find  a  human  being  on 
such  a  cold  night  on  the  plain  and  open  road,  he  had 
stooped  from  his  wagon  and  awakened  me.  I  did  not 
understand  the  qviestions  he  put  to  me  in  the  Russian 
language,  but  using  the  few  Russian  words  I  knew 
and  taking  a  ruble  silver  out  of  my  pocket,  I  entreated 
him  to  bring  me  to  the  station  where  last  night  we 
had  taken  supper.  There  I  had  perceived  a  German 
servant  girl,  and  by  her  interpretation  I  hoped  to  get 
horses  to  hurry  after  the  company.  The  farmer  un- 
derstood my  request,  pocketed  the  ruble,  took  ofif  his 
fur,  put  me  upon  the  hay  and  covered  me  with  his 
fur  coat.  On  any  other  occasion  I  most  respectfully 
would  have  declined  the  use  of  this  fur,  which  is  usu- 
ally full  of  a  certain  kind  of  living,  creeping  creatures, 
but  that  night  I  accepted  it  with  the  most  sincere  grat- 
itude. The  farmer  drove  on,  and  when  about  half 
way  he  requested  me  to  descend  at  an  inn  and  to  pay 
for  some  brandy.  I  complied  with  his  request  and 
walked  into  the  inn.  There  was  no  light.  On  the 
hearth  the  trunk  of  a  tree  was  burning,  which  threw 
a  rather  gloomy  light  through  the  tavern.  Near  the 
fire  some  Russians,  whose  horses  we  had  seen  at  the 

215 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

door  were  sitting.  We  partook  of  a  good  deal  of 
brandy  and  then  continued  our  journey.  At  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning  we  reached  the  desired  station, 
and  half  an  hour  afterwards,  provided  with  a  sleigh 
and  a  pair  of  good  horses,  I  was  again  on  the  way 
hurrying  after  my  companions. 

XI. 

We  were  driving  at  a  rapid  pace  in  order  to  over- 
take, if  possible,  tlie  post  carriages.  Exhausted  from 
the  sufferings  of  the  previous  night  I  lay  down  on 
the  straw  in  the  sleigh,  and  the  good-hearted  driver 
again  covered  me  with  his  fur.  I  soon  fell  asleep, 
but  we  had  not  traveled  ten  miles  when  the  driver 
awakened  me,  and  I  saw  the  conductor  with  a  captain 
of  the  police  by  the  side  of  the  sleigh.  The  conductor, 
aware  of  his  responsibility,  had  stopped  at  the  next 
station,  informed  tiie  police  of  what  had  happened,  and 
the  captain  was  ordered  to  search  and  find  me  by  all 
means.  The  conductor  had  asked  the  driver  whom 
he  was  carrying  in  the  sleigh,  and  being  answered, 
"A  passenger  who  was  lost  last  night,"  he  almost  em- 
braced and  kissed  me  and  shook  hands  with  me  as 
one  does  with  an  old  friend.  He  inquired  if  I  did 
not  feel  sick,  and  when  I  answered  him  that  I  was 
quite  well  he  ordered  the  driver  to  hasten  and  to  stop 
at  the  next  inn.  When  we  arrived  he  ordered  hot 
punch,  induced  me  to  take  two  large  tumblers  of  it, 
which  restored  my  vigor  and  strength,  and  half  an 
hour  afterwards  we  joined  our  old  company. 

The  two  ladies  were  quite  bewildered  at  having  per- 
suaded me  to  continue  the  journey.  The  gentlemen 
assailed  me  with  various  questions,  assured  me  of  their 

216 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

sympathy,  described  their  searching  after  me  during 
the  long  and  cold  winter  night,  adding  that  they  had 
insisted  upon  not  continuing  their  journey  until  I  had 
returned  to  the  company.  Having  partaken  of  a 
hearty  breakfast  we  continued  our  journey  without 
any  accident.  We  passed  the  plains  of  Narva,  so 
greatly  renowned  in  history  by  the  chivalric  King  of 
Sweden,  Charles  XII,  who  defeated  Peter  the  Great, 
and  who,  instead  of  seizing  the  opportunity  to  crush 
powerful  Russia  and  her  aspiring  and  ambitious  czar, 
indulged  in  visionary  dreams  which  ended  with  the 
downfall  of  the  Swedish  kingdom. 

On  Friday  noon  we  reached  Dorpat,  the  only  Ger- 
man university  of  Russia.  I  declared  to  my  fellow 
travelers  that  I  had  to  leave  them,  for,  as  I  professed 
Judaism,  it  was  forbidden  me  by  law  to  travel  on  the 
Sabbath.  I  never  concealed  the  creed  which  I  pro- 
fessed from  any  person  whatever,  and  I  found  it  al- 
ways the  best  mode  to  gain  the  respect  of  society. 

My  companions  expressed  their  regret  at  losing  me 
again,  but  handed  me  their  cards,  as  some  of  the  gen- 
tlemen resided  in  Riga.  I  rested  in  Dorpat  over  the 
Sabbath,  visited  the  university  and  the  library,  and 
was  shown  there  a  small  book  which  was  found  in 
the  cab  of  Napoleon  while  he  was  flying  from  Russia, 
and  which  was  captured  by  the  Cossacks.  It  was  the 
History  of  Plutarch,  in  the  reading  of  which  the  great 
emperor  indulged  in  his  carriage  while  leading  his 
innumerable  army  into  the  deserts  of  Russia.  I  neg- 
lected, ignoring  official  courtesy,  to  pay  a  visit  to  my 
future  chief,  the  Lieutenant-General  Kraftstroem,  who 
at  that  time  was  the  regent  of  the  university  and  the 
chief  of  all  the  higher  and  lower  schools  in  the  three 
provinces  of  Livonia,  Kurland  and  Esthonia. 

217 


MAX  UUiBNTHAIv. 

In  Russia,  as  stated  above,  everything  is  carried  on 
by  military  rules  and  military  discipline.  As  I  had 
just  come  from  the  German  university  of  Munich, 
and  as  I  had  freely  indulged  in  all  the  scholastic 
pedantry  of  philosophy  and  theology,  I  could  hardly 
reconcile  myself  to  the  idea  that  my  future  chief 
should  be  a  lieutenant-general.  When  I  was  in  St. 
Petersburg  I  was  told  an  anecdote  of  such  a  military 
regent.  He  had  been  for  years  the  commander  of 
one  of  the  regiments  of  the  imperial  guard,  whose 
men  are  all  of  one  and  the  same  size  and  height.  He 
was  quite  dumbfounded  when  visiting  the  library  of 
the  university,  over  which  he  was  appointed  regent, 
to  behold  large  volumes  and  small-sized  books  stand- 
ing together  peaceably  on  one  and  the  same  shelf,  and 
the  librarian  had  to  use  all  his  eloquence  to  show  him 
the  necessity  of  such  an  arrangement. 

But  not  only  the  regent  wears  military  uniform  ;  the 
students  are  also  bound  to  wear  the  same.  During 
weekdays  they  wear  short  overcoats,  the  color  of 
whose  collars  designate  the  different  faculties,  either 
philosophical,  medical  or  juridical ;  so  also  the  but- 
tons. They  wear  hats  with  cockades  and  swords,  and 
are  not  permitted  to  show  themselves  in  any  other 
costume.  The  university  is  an  excellent  one,  as  some 
of  the  most  prominent  German  professors  are  en- 
gaged there,  and  many  of  the  most  distinguished  pro- 
fessors at  the  Russian  universities — six  in  number — 
have  been  educated  there. 

I  passed  the  Sabbath  very  agreeably,  although 
rather  afifected  by  the  distressing  thought  that  no  Jew 
is  permitted  to  settle  in  Livonia,  and  as  soon  as  night 
set  in  I  continued  my  journey.  By  this  time  I  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  real  mode  of  Russian  trav- 

218 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

eling.  Having  no  carriage  of  my  own,  I  had  to 
change  the  sleigh  at  every  station.  My  trunk  served 
me  as  a  seat,  and  I  was  without  any  shelter  in  the 
intense  cold  of  New  Year's  night.  Nevertheless,  I 
fell  asleep,  and  all  went  on  comfortably,  when  sud- 
denly I  was  hurled  down  from  my  seat  and  had  sunk 
into  a  deep  ditch  of  snow.  I  awoke  and  beheld  the 
driver  in  the  same  pleasant  situation.  We  looked  after 
the  horses,  but  they  stood  quite  still  near  us,  yet  the 
sleigh  was  overthrown  on  one  side  and  my  trunk  on 
the  other.  The  driver  had  also  slept;  another  sleigh, 
that  passed  by,  had  thrown  us  from  the  track.  We 
searched  around  for  our  luggage,  while  he  continually 
exclaimed:  "Ob  Tzvoi  Mat"!  a  phrase  which  is  a 
horrible  malediction.  (The  Russians  frequently  use 
this  hideous  formula.  I  once  offered  a  driver  one 
ruble  silver  if  he  would  drive  me  only  two  miles  with- 
out using  those  mean  words,  but  we  were  not  gone 
ten  minutes  when  my  ear  was  offended  by  that  abom- 
inable curse.)  My  driver  swore  he  would  get  his  sat- 
isfaction and  revenge  as  soon  as  we  met  another 
sleigh,  and  soon  he  was  again  in  the  best  spirits  when 
he  had  fulfilled  his  vow  by  upsetting  a  sleigh  that  ran 
toward  us. 

At  two  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon  I  perceived  the 
steeples  of  Riga,  and  all  the  feelings  of  uneasiness, 
uncertainty  and  anxiety  that  assail  us  when  standing 
at  the  gates  of  the  unknown  future  of  our  career 
were  stirring  and  moving  my  heart  and  soul.  I  had 
heard  of  the  antipathy  the  Russian  and  Polish  Jews 
have  towards  their  German  coreligionists.  I  knew 
very  well  how  little  they  think  of  their  abilities,  and 
how  far  superior  they  fancy  themselves  in  this  re- 
spect.    I  knew  that  the  Datshel  was  a  nickname,  fully 

219 


MAX  LlUKNTHAIv. 

expressing  their  innermost  sentiments.  Besides,  my 
language  was  quite  unintelligible  to  a  great  many  I 
had  seen  in  St.  Petersburg,  as  their  corrupted  jargon 
intermingled  with  Russian  and  Polish  words  was  en- 
tirely strange  to  my  ear.  My  dress  was  not  theirs, 
and  I  had  heard  of  many  of  them  that  a  dresscoat, 
not  covering  the  trousers,  was  considered  an  ni"!^  ;"'' 
and  as  I  was  but  twenty-four  years  old  I  feared  they 
would  not  obey  me,  as  they  revered  and  respected 
only  old  age  ripened  by  experience.  I  was  quite  at 
a  loss  as  to  the  manner  in  which  I  would  be  received. 
But  our  swift  horses  minded  neither  my  disheartened 
condition  nor  my  thought  fulness,  and  at  two  o'clock 
p.  m.  I  alighted  at  the  first  hotel  of  Riga. 

XII. 

But  how  agreeably  was  I  disappointed  when  shortly 
after  my  arrival  the  president  and  a  committee  of  the 
trustees  of  the  congregation  called  on  me  to  tender 
me  a  hearty  welcome.  They  were  all  dressed  in  Euro- 
pean style,  spoke  German  correctly,  and  quite  enrap- 
tured me  with  their  enlightened  conversation.  I  after- 
wards found  out  that  most  of  the  Jews  living  in  Riga 
proper  are  of  German  descent,  as  are  also  some  of 
their  brethren  in  Mitau,  the  capital  of  Kurland,  and 
they  retained  their  German  dress.  The  Jews  living 
in  the  suburbs  of  Riga  mostly  wear  the  Polish  cos- 
tume, as  do  also  the  large  majority  of  the  Jews  in 
Kurland.  The  committee  requested  me  to  pass  the 
night  in  the  hotel,  and  on  the  next  morning  they  would 
bring  me  to  my  room,  which  was  a  part  of  the  school- 
liouse,  that  the  congregation  had  rented. 

'"  Unchaste. 

220 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

On  the  next  morning  I  entered  the  schoolhouse.  I 
was  received  at  the  door  by  the  sexton  of  the  congre- 
gation, a  venerable  old  man  of  sixty-eight  years,  with 
a  silvery  white  beard,  and  attired  in  his  best  holiday 
suit.  Kindliness  of  feeling,  the  offspring  of  true, 
heavenly  piety,  beamed  from  his  countenance,  and 
while  he  was  shaking  hands  with  me  I  felt  that  there 
was  no  prejudice  against  me  in  the  heart  of  my  future 
host,  for  being  then  a  bachelor  the  trustees  had  pro- 
vided that  I  should  board  with  him.  He  introduced 
me  to  his  wife,  and  I  felt  at  once  assured  that  I 
should  pass  my  time  very  comfortably  in  their  fam- 
ily circle. 

I  was  shown  the  schoolrooms,  which  were  airy  and 
well  lighted,  and  the  vestry,  which  was  on  the  first 
floor.  I  was  then  led  to  my  room,  which  the  con- 
gregation had  furnished  neatly  and  comfortably.  The 
ladies  of  the  trustees  then  waited  on  me,  offering 
me  their  kind  services  to  bring  my  little  household 
in  order ;  and  it  being  customary  in  Russia  to  pro- 
vide for  the  stranger  all  kind  of  cakes,  wine  and 
brandies,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  entertain  those 
who  are  coming  to  welcome  him,  I  was  provided  by 
the  ladies  with  a  large  supply  of  these  articles.  Hav- 
ing exchanged  the  usual  compliments  for  these  marks 
of  kindness  the  trustees  remarked  that  in  the  after- 
noon they  would  introduce  me  to  their  rabbi. 

We  alighted  at  his  house  at  six  o'clock  in  the  eve- 
ning, and  were  ushered  into  his  modestly  furnished 
room.  I  never  saw  a  more  patriarch-like  man  than 
the  old  Rabbi  Orele  (Aaron)  was.  The  deepest  re- 
spect, the  truest  reverence  filled  my  heart  and  soul 
when  he  came  near  to  shake  hands  with  me  and  to 
bid  me  welcome.     He  was  a  man  of  high  stature, 

221 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

adorned  with  silver  locks  and  a  snow-white  beard, 
had  one  blue  and  one  black  eye,  and  attired  in  his 
silken  Schuhctze  and  his  fine  fur  cap,  he  could  have 
sat  as  a  model  for  one  of  those  beautiful  heads 
which  we  admire  in  the  immortal  pictures  of  Raphael 
and  Michel  Angelo.  Though  some  sixty  years  of 
age  he  looked  robust  and  healthy ;  his  high  forehead, 
furrowed  as  it  was,  showed  that  he  was  accustomed 
to  mental  labor;  the  stern  look  of  his  bright  eyes 
proved  that  he  was  a  man  of  determined  character, 
and  his  affability  told  you  at  once  that  behind  his 
external  sternness  was  hidden  an  intense  kindness 
of  heart.  He  enjoyed  the  unbounded  confidence  of 
his  congregation  in  religious  affairs,  being  an  eminent 
Talmudist,  and  like  all  the  rabbis  of  Russia,  exercis- 
ing the  jurisdiction  in  civil  lawsuits,  his  verdicts, 
given  according  to  the  Jewish  Code,  were  considered 
so  just  and  so  considerate  that  even  Christian  mer- 
chants applied  to  him  for  his  decision,  preferring  his 
judgments  to  those  of  the  bribed  Russian  courts. 

It  is  astonishing,  what  an  immense  influence  the 
rabbis  in  Russia  exercise.  The  administration  of  this 
umpire  is  not  acknowledged  as  such  by  the  govern- 
m.ent,  and  is  only  called  upon  by  the  free  will  of 
the  parties.     I  heard  of  a  very  interesting  fact  that 

occurred   in    C ,   a   small  town  in   Poland.      The 

Reverend  H.,  who  occupies  there  the  rabbinical  chair, 
was  a  man  of  but  thirty-six  years  of  age,  but  uni- 
versally respected  and  esteemed  for  his  great  Tal- 
mudical  knowledge  and  his  fearless  and  undaunted 
justice.  Two  members  of  his  congregation  once 
called  upon  him  in  a  lawsuit,  the  one  a  rich,  wealthy 
and  influential  man,  the  other  a  poor  tradesman. 
Before  opening  the  case  the  rabbi  ordered  them  to 

222 


MY   TRAVEILS    IN    RUSSIA. 

pledge  their  word  of  honor  that  they  would  abide 
by  his  decision,  else  he  would  not  accept  the  case, 
knowing  the  quarrelsome  character  of  the  rich  man. 
Both  complied  with  his  order,  and  the  case  having 
been  pleaded  on  both  sides,  it  was  decided  against 
the  rich  man.  But  he,  instead  of  adhering  to  his 
pledge,  brought  the  case  before  the  court,  where  he 
hoped  to  carry  it  by  the  influence  of  his  means.  The 
rabbi  could  not  do  anything  against  this  faithlessness ; 
but  on  the  eve  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  town  were  astonished  to  see  the  rabbi 
going  to  the  synagogue  a  full  hour  before  the  service 
commenced.  They  also  hurried  to  the  place  of  wor- 
ship and  found  their  spiritual  guide  absorbed  in  deep 
meditation.  He  remained  in  this  situation  till  the 
rich  man  came  into  the  House  of  God  and  then  he 
arose  from  his  seat,  proclaiming  with  stentorian  voice 
that  he  would  not  allow  service  to  commence  until 
the  rich  man  had  left  the  synagogue.  "A  man  that 
injures  his  fellow  man,"  he  said,  "retains  what  does 
not  belong  to  him;  he  can  not  hope  for  divine  mercy 
and  the  heavenly  forgiveness  of  the  holy  day  and 
sets  a  bad  example  to  the  whole  congregation.     We 

will  not  begin  prayer  till  you,  Mr.  S ,  will  have 

left  our  company."  The  man  was  thunderstruck. 
The  solemnity  of  the  hour,  the  awe  of  the  day,  the 
fear  of  heavenly  justice,  the  remorse  of  a  bad  con- 
science, the  sternness  of  the  rabbi,  the  exposure  be- 
fore the  congregation  made  such  an  irresistible  im- 
pression upon  him  that  he  hurried  to  the  rabbi's 
chair,  acknowledged  his  wrong,  begged  for  his  par- 
don, and  promised  that  after  Join  Kippiir  he  would 
surely  redress  the  wrong  he  had  done.  "I  can  not 
believe  you,"  answered  the  rabbi.     "You  have  vio- 

223 


MAX  LILIKNTHAL. 

lated  your  pledge  once,  and  I  reiterate  my  verdict, 
that  we  shall  not  begin  prayer  before  you  have  left 
our  synagogue."  "Rabbi,  good  rabbi,  what  shall  I 
do  not  to  bring  upon  me  the  anger  of  God  and  the 
scorn  of  the  congregation?  I  can  not  bear  this  your 
menace,"  replied  the  man.  "Go  home,"  said  the 
rabbi,  "and  bring  the  money  you  owe  to  the  poor 
tradesman."  "I  have  no  money  at  home,"  answered 
he;  "I  paid  out  today  all  that  I  had  on  hand."  "Then 
go  and  bring  your  silverware ;  I  shall  take  it  and 
keep  it  for  you  in  pawn  till  you  pay  the  money." 
The  man  hurried  home,  brought  silverware  twice  the 
amount  of  the  debt,  and  the  rabbi  with  a  composed 
and  satisfied  countenance  deposited  it  in  the  Holy 
Ark  with  the  Sepher  Tliora.  Then  turning  from  the 
steps  before  the  Holy  Ark  to  the  congregation  he 
said,  "According  to  the  words  of  our  sages,  the  most 
pious  man  can  not  occupy  the  high  station  of  a  re- 
penting sinner.     I  therefore  beg  Mr.   S to  take 

during  this  Jotn  Kippiir  my  place  in  the  synagogue, 
while  I  with  a  heart  full  of  heavenly  joy  will  retire 
to  his  pew."     Notwithstanding  the   remonstrance  of 

Mr.   S he  again  had  to  comply  with  the  desire 

of  the  rabbi,  and  the  day  after  Jom  Kippur  the  law- 
suit was  peaceably  and  amicably  settled.  Such  a 
moral  influence  does  a  great  deal  of  good  amongst 
the  Jews  in  Russia  and  insures  peace,  justice  and 
good  feelings. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  rabbi  of  Riga.  He  ad- 
dressed me  after  the  usual  Shalom  Alechem,  "You're 
quite  young,  doctor,  and  a  stranger.  'You  shall  love 
the  stranger,'  says  the  Bible.  I  will  be  your  father, 
and  whenever  you  want  my  advice  please  call  on  me 
and  I  shall  always  be  happy  to  assist  you  where  and 

224 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

whenever   I   can."      I   thanked   him    for   this   cordial 
welcome,  and  he  then  introduced  me  to  his   family. 

XIII. 

The  rabbi's  wife  had  once  been  a  beauty,  and  was 
a  kind  and  good-hearted  lady.  Not  being  able  to 
speak  good  German,  she  tried  by  every  mark  of  at- 
tention to  show  me  her  pleasure  at  seeing  me  in  her 
home  and  becoming  the  assistant  of  the  rabbi.  She 
ordered  several  dishes  of  fine  preserves  to  be  brought 
in ;  lit  the  lamp  that  was  used  only  on  Friday  night ; 
put  on  her  holiday  dress,  and  entertained  me  in  the 
most  hospitable  way.  I  did  not  accept  of  all  the 
different  dishes  and  heard  afterwards  that  she  felt 
rather  piqued  by  it,  for  in  Russia  it  is  customary 
that  the  guests  taste  of  everything  that  the  lady  of- 
fers if  they  would  not  violate  the  laws  of  Russian 
hospitality. 

Being  informed  of  her  pique  the  day  after  my 
visit,  I  hurried  to  her  house  and  apologized  for  my 
impoliteness.  This  was  forgiven  only  on  the  condi- 
tion that  I  accept  an  invitation  to  dine  with  her  on 
Saturday  next.  Her  dress  consisted  of  a  gown,  the 
waist  of  which  was  very  awkward,  being  high  in  the 
Ijack.  This  is  usually  worn  by  all  the  Jewish  ladies 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  Russia.  On  her  head 
she  had  a  Turkish  turban,  round  her  neck  a  golden 
chain  with  an  immense  medal,  over  her  dress  an 
apron,  without  which  the  Jewish  ladies  never  appear 
in  public,  besides  which  when  leaving  the  house  they 
wear  a  short  mantilla  hanging  round  their  shoulders. 

I  passed  the  evening  very  agreeably  and  left  the 
rabbi's    house    with    the    assurance    that    he    always 

225 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

would  be  a  friend  and  advocate  of  mine.  The  trus- 
tees then  requested  me  to  visit  the  next  day  my  fu- 
ture chief,  the  director  of  the  schools  of  Livonia, 
Counselor  Napierski,  and  to  go  with  them  in  the 
afternoon  to  see  the  Russian  bishop.  The  director, 
to  whom  I  handed  Count  Uwaroff's  letter  of  recom- 
mendation— an  honor  not  very  often  enjoyed  by  him 
— received  me  in  a  friendly  manner,  but  I  observed 
some  kind  of  reserve,  which  my  friends  afterwards 
explained  to  me.  The  inhabitants  of  Riga,  fearing 
the  continual  encroachments  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment which  are  tending  to  russify  these  German 
provinces,  watch  with  the  utmost  jealousy  their 
rights  and  privileges.  By  bribery  and  every  kind  of 
influence  they  try  to  retain  the  German  language  in 
the  courts,  in  the  schools,  in  the  university,  and  use 
all  means  to  prevent  the  Russian  church  and  the 
Jews  from  taking  root  in  Livonia.  The  government 
for  a  long  time  had  coaxed  them  by  appointing  Ger- 
mans as  governors-general,  governors,  etc.,  knowing 
that  they  were  faithful  subjects,  sincerely  adhering 
to  the  Russian  crown,  but  jealously  watching  their 
German  inclinations.  The  government  did  not  like  to 
hurt  their  feelings,  though  it  was  bent  upon  carrying 
out  its  own  views,  and  therefore  several  privileges 
were  granted  to  the  Russian  Church  and  the  Jews. 
Thus  a  Russian  bishopric  was  created  in  Riga,  and 
the  bishop,  being  a  diplomat  as  well  as  a  clergyman, 
began  to  meddle  in  everything,  trying  continually  to 
extend  his  influence.  Thus  the  Jews  had  obtained 
the  permission  of  establishing  a  school  in  Riga, 
though  they  had  not  yet  the  right  of  a  permanent 
settlement  in  that  city.  The  director,  therefore, 
though    welcoming   me    in    a    very    friendly   manner, 

226 


.    MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

had  his  doubts  about  my  secret  instructions  and  my 
personal  intentions,  and  though  promising  me  every 
assistance  in  his  power,  he  was  too  much  of  a  Livon- 
ian  to  take  his  promises  in  good  earnest.  Besides 
being  a  fanatical  Protestant,  he  tried  to  convert  as 
many  Jews  as  he  possibly  could,  and  was  afraid  that 
his  missionary  efforts  would  be  checked  by  my  influ- 
ence. Nevertheless,  as  long  as  I  was  in  Riga  he  put 
no  obstacle  in  my  way,  and  we  fared  pretty  well 
together. 

The  bishop,  on  the  contrary,  on  whom  I  called  in 
the  afternoon,  though  a  strong  missionary  of  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church,  received  me  as  a  friend 
who  would  assist  him  in  breaking  down  the  obstinacy 
of  these  German  Buergers.  He  lived  in  the  suburbs 
of  Riga;  for  years  he  had  petitioned  the  municipal 
government  to  grant  him  the  permission  of  erecting 
the  bishop's  palace  in  the  city  itself,  but  he  had  al- 
ways been  refused  sternly  and  coldly.  Shortly  be- 
fore my  arrival  the  lawsuit  had  been  decided  by  the 
Senate  of  St.  Petersburg  in  his  favor,  and  his  grati- 
fication was  intense.  In  order  to  make  another  breach 
in  the  bulwarks  of  Livonian  privileges  he  had  advo- 
cated the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  school- in  Riga; 
and  the  Jews  were  highly  indebted  to  his  untiring 
endeavors,  owing  to  which  they  had  carried  this 
point  against  the  great  wealth  and  influence  of  Riga. 
They  considered  him  as  their  bulwark,  for  they  hoped 
that  as  soon  as  they  once  would  have  taken  firm  foot 
in  the  city,  they  would  gain  the  other  points  too, 
namely,  to  be  considered  and  treated  as  citizens  of 
Riga. 

His  residence  in  the  suburbs  was  a  frame  house, 
nicely  built   and   comfortably    furnished.     The  choir 

227 


MAX  UUKNTlIAIv. 

of  his  Episcopal  Churcli,  as  was  usual,  was  living 
with  him  under  the  same  roof,  and  formed  the  staff 
of  his  servants.  The  trustees  and  I  were  ushered 
into  the  salon,  and  five  minutes  afterwards  the  bishop 
entered  the  room.  I  had  never  before  seen  a  Rus- 
sian bishop,  and  was  quite  surprised  at  the  fine  and 
majestic  appearance  of  the  man.  The  Russian  clergy, 
though  divided  in  two  classes — the  married  clergy 
and  the  monks — are  always  dressed  in  their  clerical 
costume.  They  all  wear  long,  very  long,  hair  and 
beard,  like  the  Nasir  of  the  Bible,  silk  coats  tied 
with  a  silken  girdle,  and  over  it  a  velvet  garment; 
the  hats  of  the  married  clergy  are  very  large,  their 
long  sticks  are  adorned  with  huge  silver  buttons,  and 
most  of  the  order  are  decorated  with  the  different 
orders  of  the  empire.  The  monks — the  number  of 
whom  amounts  to  only  five  thousand,  the  Empress 
Catherine  having  confiscated  the  large  estates  of  the 
Greek  Church  for  the  secular  purposes  of  the  gov- 
ernment, ordering  that  the  whole  clergy  should  be 
supported  at  the  expense  of  the  government — the 
monks,  I  say,  never  go  bareheaded,  but  wear  a  cap, 
like  the  priests  in  the  temple  of  old  in  Jerusalem, 
adorned  with  a  black  veil,  and  their  robes  and  gar- 
ments are  made  of  stuff  of  a  black  color.  The 
bishops,  however,  are  permitted  to  wear  velvet  gar- 
ments of  a  blue,  green  and  red  color ;  a  large  golden 
cross,  hanging  on  a  golden  chain,  continually  adorns 
their  breast ;  they  always  carry  in  their  hands  an- 
other little  cross  hanging  on  a  rosary,  and  the  highest 
classes  of  the  imperial  decorations  shine  upon  their 
garments.  The  Metropolitans,  the  highest  clergymen 
of  the  church,  wear  white  caps  adorned  with  large 


228 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

diamond  crosses  and  white  veils,  and  their  whole  at- 
tire consists  of  the  most  costly  stuff. 

The  trustees  who  accompanied  me  kissed  the  bish- 
op's hand,  as  the  Russians  usually  do.  I,  being 
dressed  in  my  Jewish  clerical  costume,  did  not  com- 
ply with  this  ceremony,  and  he  took  no  offense  at  it. 
After  the  first  introductory  compliments,  he  inquired 
after  my  birthplace,  the  university  where  I  finished 
my  studies,  and  being  informed  that  my  professors 
had  been  Christians,  he  asked  me,  like  Count  Pra- 
tasoff  in  St.  Petersburg  did,  whether  I  believed  in 
Christ.  Having  been  answered  in  the  negative,  he 
seemed  quite  puzzled,  but  dropped  the  subject,  and 
wanted  to  know  when  we  would  open  the  school,  as 
he  intended  to  be  present  at  its  inauguration.  Hav- 
ing received  the  necessary  information,  he  invited  us 
all  to  take  a  cup  of  tea  with  him,  and  I  still  today 
must  confess  that  I  never  took  a  better  cup  of  tea 
than  I  usually  did  at  the  bishop's  palace. 

The  Russians  are  proud  of  their  tea,  and  are  really 
masters  in  preparing  it.  The  tea  loses  very  much  of 
its  flavor  and  its  strength  by  being  exported  in  ships, 
the  water  injuring  its  original  flavor.  The  Russians, 
after  the  Chinese,  claim  to  have  the  best  tea,  as  they 
import  it  into  European  Russia  over  Siberia  always 
by  land.  The  value  of  the  stock  of  tea  at  the  large 
fair  of  Nizhni  Novgorod,  amounts  to  twenty  mil- 
lion rubles,  and  is  sold  in  order  to  be  distributed 
throughout  all  Russia  in  the  short  term  of  three 
weeks.  When  I  left  Russia  in  1845,  a  Russian  gran- 
dee wished  me  to  take  some  tea  along  for  his  son 
who  was  attached  to  the  Imperial  Embassy  at  Mun- 
ich, but  hearing  that  I  was  going  by  steamer,  he  de- 
termined not  to  send  the  present,  as  it  would  lose  all 

229 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

its  flavor  during  the  passage.  The  Russians  have  a 
peculiar  apparatus  called  Samovar,  in  which  they 
boil  their  tea,  and  indeed  it  is  quite  another  beverage 
than  the  tea  we  sip  in  Germany. 

The  bishop,  having  entertained  us  with  the  utmost 
hospitality,  dismissed  us  in  the  most  friendly  man- 
ner, entreating  me  to  come  very  often  as  he  had 
matters  of  importance  to  discuss  with  me. 

XIV. 

In  the  course  of  the  week  I  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  great  many  Jewish  merchants.  I  never  saw  a 
finer  set  of  men.  Their  faces  beam  with  intelligence, 
their  eyes  are  full  of  spirit,  their  minds  are  finely 
developed,  and  in  their  exterior,  though  bent  down 
by  Russian  aristocratic  tyranny,  they  have  an  ap- 
pearance of  nobility  which  reminds  one  of  the  noble 
bearing  of  the  Polish  aristocracy  with  whom  they  had 
constant  intercourse.  Dressed  in  their  fine  black 
silk  Schnhetse,  over  which  they  wear  a  wide  gar- 
ment of  the  same  stufif,  covering  their  heads  with 
fine  fur  caps,  they  show  in  their  movements  more 
self-confidence  and  in  their  faces  by  far  more  intel- 
ligence than  all  other  European  Jews.  Their  beards 
give  them  an  air  of  manliness,  their  high  foreheads 
proclaim  great  m.ental  ability,  their  features  are 
of  such  a  fine  Oriental  cut  that  they  certainly  would 
be  numbered  amongst  the  nicest  of  the  Caucasian 
race  if  in  their  intercourse  with  the  bribed  and 
greedy  officers  they  had  not  become  accustomed  to 
a  self-degradation  and  self-humiliation  that  disgusts 
every  European  not  used  to  such  contemptible  crawl- 
ing and  sneaking. 

230 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

The  Jewish  merchants  from  the  interior  of  Russia 
carry  on  the  most  important  trade  in  products  in  the 
city  of  Riga.  Riga,  being  after  Odessa  the  largest 
commercial  port  of  the  empire,  exports  to  England, 
Holland  and  Germany  flour,  linseed,  com  and  tim- 
ber. The  Jewish  merchants  come  to  Riga  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  winter,  make  large  contracts  with  the 
commission  houses  for  immense  sums,  and  having 
received  an  advance  of  sometimes  twenty  to  thirty 
thousand  rubles  silver,  they  return  to  the  provinces 
of  Vitebsk  and  Mogilef,  make  their  purchases,  and 
when  the  navigation  of  the  Duna  reopens,  thousands 
of  barks  arrive  loaded  with  merchandise.  It  is  a 
fine  sight  that  one  witnesses  in  the  month  of  May 
on  the  immense  bridge  which  connects  Riga  with  its 
many  suburbs.  On  the  one  side  are  lying  these  Rus- 
sian canoes  with  their  dirty  crews — no  flag,  no  sign 
adorns  them ;  on  the  other  side  are  the  splendid  Eng- 
lish, German  and  French  three-masters  with  their 
waving  flags  and  banners  and  their  robust  seamen. 
The  police  are  continually  on  the  guard  to  prevent 
any  fight  between  these  antagonistic  nationalities, 
who  are  engaged  in  exchanging  those  products  of 
peace.  The  Jews  are  busy  brokers,  merchants  and 
speculators,  and  many  make  their  fortune  thereby. 
But  even  if  a  merchant  does  not  return  with  the 
merchandise  for  which  the  cash  has  been  advanced 
to  him  the  Christian  commission  houses  do  not  mind 
it,  as  they  reap  immense  profits  in  these  transactions. 

The  merchants  in  Russia  are  exempt  from  military 
duty,  but  are  divided  into  three  diflferent  classes,  pay- 
ing dififerent  taxes  according  to  the  amount  of  which 
they  are  permitted  to  do  a  certain  amount  of  busi- 
ness.    The  first  class  pays  yearly  eight  hundred,  the 

231 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

second  six  hundred,  the  third  two  hundred  and  fifty 
rubles  silver,  and  the  Jews,  anxious  to  be  released 
from  military  duty,  join  such  a  class  whenever  their 
feeble  means  will  permit  it. 

They  all  welcomed  me  heartily,  but  were  aston- 
ished that  I,  a  man  twenty-four  years  of  age,  was 
not  yet  married.  This  was  quite  beyond  their  con- 
ception. Being  accustomed  to  marry  their  children 
at  quite  an  early  age,  they  can  not  believe  that  a 
man,  especially  a  minister,  can  live  in  chastity  with- 
out having  entered  the  state  of  matrimony.  I  ex- 
cused myself  with  the  laws  of  my  native  land,  where 
the  laws  place  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  Jews, 
but  I  was  unable  to  satisfy  them. 

The  Sltadclianini  (marriage  agents)  began  to  busy 
themselves  about  me,  and  I  received  letters  and  pro- 
posals from  every  part  of  Russia,  the  one  offering 
me  a  young  lady  of  sixteen  with  a  dowry  of  five 
hundred  ducats  and  jewels  of  the  value  of  two  hun- 
dred ducats  besides ;  the  other  advising  me  to  marry 
a  girl  in  humble  ranks,  but  whose  family  were  rab- 
bis, and  therefore  regarded  as  Jewish  nobility ;  a 
third  intended  to  marry  me  to  a  young  widow  with 
two  children  and  a  line  dwelling,  besides  a  few  hun- 
dred rubles ;  the  fourth  a  divorced  young  lady,  etc. 
I  laid  all  these  letters,  with  which  I  was  over- 
whelmed, aside  smilingly,  without  answering  any  of 
them. 

On  the  next  Sabbath  I  delivered  my  first  lecture, 
which  was  also  the  first  German  lecture  ever  deliv- 
ered in  Russia.  The  German  part  of  my  audience 
was  well  pleased,  but  the  Polish  Talmudical  scholars 
were  not  quite  satisfied.  They  are  not  used  to  Ger- 
man sermons,  because  they  are  too  plain   for  them; 

232 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

they  are  used  to  their  rabbinical  sophistries,  to  their 
cabalistic  subtleties.  They  are  used  to  find  difficul- 
ties in  passages  of  the  Scriptures  where  none  exist, 
and  though  they  solve  their  invented  problems  with 
much  talent  and  ingenuity,  this  kind  of  Derashah,-^ 
in  which  the  old  Maggidim^-  indulged,  has  been  done 
away  with  in  western  Europe.  The  rabbi,  believing 
that  my  sermon  did  not  meet  with  the  approbation 
of  the  Polish  party,  approached  me,  saying:  "Why 
did  you  not  read  a  piece  of  the  Baal  Akedah-^  or 
the  SheloP^  That  would  have  suited  them  better 
than  a  sermon."  I  appeased  my  reverend  friend,  and 
on  the  next  Sabbath  I  fully  satisfied  him  by  deliver- 
ing a  sermon  in  the  spirit  and  the  manner  of  a 
Derashah. 

In  the  meantime  our  school  had  been  organized. 
The  curls  (Peoth)  of  the  Polish  boys  had  mostly 
been  cut  ofif  and  they  came  to  the  schoolhouse  neatly 
and  properly  dressed.  A  large  number  had  been  en- 
rolled, the  teachers  had  been  engaged  and  the  formal 
opening  of  the  school  had  been  arranged  for.  The 
portrait  of  the  emperor  embellished  the  walls,  the 
festival  arrangements  had  been  finished,  and  we 
awaited  the  invited  guests  who  had  promised  to  wit- 
ness a  ceremony  by  which  the  Jews  celebrated  their 
first  victory  over  their  adversaries.  The  governor 
of  the  state,  the  director  of  the  schools  with  a  large 
staff  of  teachers,  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  clergy 
were  present,  but  not  in  full  uniform;  although  de- 

"  Homiletical  discourse. 

"  Preachers. 

^'  A  philosophical  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch  by  Isaac 
Arama   (1420-1494). 

"A  cabalistical  work  of  great  renown  by  Isaiah  Horowitz 
(1555-1630). 

233 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

feated,  they  could  not  bring  themselves  to  honor 
thus  a  Jewish  school.  But  at  last  a  stately  carriage, 
drawn  by  four  excellent  horses,  stopped  at  the  portal, 
and  the  Russian  bishop,  the  secret  ally  of  the  Jews, 
alighted,  dressed  in  full  canonicals  and  adorned  with 
all  his  ribbons  and  decorations.  After  a  short  prayer 
by  the  rabbi  I  delivered  the  inaugural  sermon,  which 
was  received  with  undivided  applause.  The  whole 
audience  congratulated  me  on  this  effort,  and  from 
that  day  I  was  well  received  in  the  highest  circles 
of  the  aristocracy  and  plutocracy.  I  was  requested 
to  publish  the  sermon,  and  I  sent  copies  of  it  to  the 
emperor,  all  the  members  of  the  imperial  family,  the 
ministers  and  various  high  functionaries  in  St.  Pet- 
ersburg. 

Our  school  was  soon  in  successful  operation.  Our 
Jewish  boys  made  rapid  progress  in  every  depart- 
ment, and  especially  those  who  had  been  instructed 
already  in  the  Talmud,  were  the  best  in  every  branch. 
It  can  not  be  denied  that  the  Talmudical  study  is 
the  best  means  to  develop  rapidly  the  mental  facul- 
ties. It  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  memory,  not  a  study 
of  dry  and  dreary  subjects,  even  not  a  field  of  reg- 
ular mental  exercise.  The  short  style  in  which  the 
Talmud  is  written,  the  hieroglyphs,  which  continually 
have  to  be  deciphered,  through  which  the  mind  has 
to  find  its  way,  uses  and  forces  the  student  from  the 
beginning  to  an  independent  application  of  the  mind, 
and  prepares  a  sure  success  for  any  profession  which 
the  young  man  may  afterwards  select.  This  truth 
is  proved  clearly  by  the  fact  that  many  eminent 
men  in  Germany  up  to  their  eighteenth  year  studied 
only  the  Talmud  without  knowing  the  simple  alpha- 
bet, and  when  they  turned  to  the  classics  or  any  de- 

234 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

partment  of  the  university,  in  a  short  time  they 
reached  the  highest  degree  of  excellence.  Our  Sal- 
omon Maimon,  Edward  Gans,  Hitzig  and  Valentine 
gave  evidence  of  this,  and  certainly  the  greatest  men  in 
Jewish  theology  of  the  present  age  are  pupils  of  the 
old  Talmudical  schools. 

A  few  weeks  afterwards  I  was  called  upon  by  the 
servant  of  the  Russian  bishop,  who  handed  me  a 
large  packet,  marked  with  his  seal,  with  the  request 
for  an  immediate  answer.  I  opened  it  hastily  and 
beheld  therein  two  large  manuscripts  written  in 
French,  defending  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
Church.  I  went  to  his  residence  and  asked  him 
what  had  led  him  to  send  me  these  manuscripts.  He 
answered  that  he  had  reported  my  arrival  to  the  syn- 
od, had  communicated  the  fact  that  I  had  studied 
Christian  theology,  but  that  I  did  not  believe  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  Church,  whereupon  he  had 
received  the  order  of  the  president  of  the  synod,  "It  be- 
ing impossible  to  study  Christian  theology  without  be- 
ing convinced  of  its  truth,"  the  bishop  should  try  again 
to  give  me  the  necessary  instruction.  I  expressed 
my  regret  at  the  whole  correspondence  and  my  de- 
termination that  I  would  not  continue  my  visits  if 
any  religious  topic  would  be  brought  up  for  further 
discussion.  I  left  him  and  saw  him  but  once  more 
during  my  stay   in   Riga. 

XV. 

Time  passed,  the  school  increased  numerically,  and 
I  gained  more  time  to  attend  to  the  duties  incumbent 
on  my  office  as  preacher.  I  had  heard  that  some 
orphan  boys  were  wandering  about  the  city,  destitute 

235 


MAX  UUENTIIAL. 

of  all  and  every  means  of  support,  without  any  home 
or  shelter  whatever,  and  subsisting  on  the  occasional 
charity  of  some  kind-hearted  and  benevolent  per- 
sons. I  proposed  to  the  board  of  trustees  to  estab- 
lish forthwith  an  orphan  asylum,  and  three  rooms 
of  our  schoolhouse  being  unoccupied,  we  resolved 
upon  furnishing  them  and  opening  at  once  a  refuge 
for  these  unhappy  children.  The  means  for  carry- 
ing out  this  laudable  object  being  provided  by  volun- 
tary contributions,  the  arrangements  were  finished 
in  half  a  day,  a  contract  with  the  sexton's  wife  was 
made  for  their  board,  and  I  and  two  members  of 
the  board  were  appointed  a  committee  to  find  the 
neglected  boys. 

We  were  sure  of  finding  them  only  in  some  poor 
shanty  in  the  suburbs,  and  at  once  went  thither  in 
search  of  them.  We  called  on  many  poor  families; 
they  had  been  there,  but  had  left  again.  At  last  we 
found  them  near  a  baker's  oven,  black  as  soot,  in 
rags,  freezing  and  weeping,  and  afraid  we  would  do 
them  harm.  But  being  informed  of  our  good  inten- 
tions they  clasped  our  hands,  fell  at  our  feet,  stam- 
mered their  thanks,  promising  to  be  henceforth  good 
and  obedient  boys. 

We  were  obliged  first  to  have  them  bathe.  We 
then  sent  them  to  a  clothier,  informing  him  that  the 
orphans  were  found,  but  in  such  a  state  of  ragged 
nakedness  that  it  was  impossible  to  bring  them  to 
the  schoolhouse.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
without  asking  for  any  remuneration  whatever,  but 
prompted  by  the  noble  feehngs  of  true  Jewish  char- 
ity, he  at  once  forwarded  six  complete  suits,  and  we 
had  the  heavenly  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  orphans 
comfortably  lodged  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

236 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

The  ladies  of  the  congregation  sent  a  great  many 
more  things  the  next  morning,  and  soon  every  ap- 
prehension of  not  being  able  to  carry  on  successfully 
the  young  and  small  establishment  faded  away.  Of 
the  poverty  in  general  existing  among  our  Jewish 
brethren  in  Russia,  the  Jews  in  Europe  have  not  the 
least  idea ;  neither  of  the  immense  sums  spent  by 
the  wealthier  Jews  of  that  vast  empire  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor  and  indigent. 

One  fine  summer  morning  a  lady  called  on  me 
begging  me  to  accompany  her  about  two  miles  from 
the  city  where  a  whole  Jewish  family  was  in  an 
almost  incredible  state  of  distress.  I  ordered  a  car- 
riage, we  rode  out  and,  my  God !  what  an  awful, 
what  a  gloomy  spectacle  presented  itself  to  my  eyes. 
In  a  miserable  hut,  without  a  door  and  without  any 
windows,  I  found  father  and  mother  and  five  chil- 
dren prostrated  with  typhoid  fever.  The  father  and 
four  children  lay  on  the  floor  on  some  bundles  of 
straw,  covered  with  ragged  garments ;  the  mother,  in 
the  highest  delirium,  lay  on  a  poor  couch  upon  an 
old  mattress,  and  the  daughter,  a  girl  of  fifteen 
years,  in  the  heat  of  the  fever  and  with  loosened 
hair,  lay  on  a  wooden  trunk.  There  was  none  who 
ministered  to  them,  no  nurse,  no  physician ;  there 
were  no  provisions,  no  medicine  and  not  a  penny  in 
the  whole  hut  to  save  the  life  of  these  miserable  and 
poor  creatures. 

A  farmer  passing  by  in  the  morning  had  observed 
the  family,  and  hurrying  away  he  informed  my  com- 
panion of  what  he  had  seen.  I  begged  her  to  stay 
till  I  would  be  back ;  and  she  willingly  complying 
with  my  request  I  hurried  to  Dr.  Levi,  a  converted 
Jew,  who  with  his  usual  benevolence  and  charity  set 

237 


MAX  ULIENTHAI.. 

out  with  me  to  alleviate  these  indescribable  suffer- 
ings. After  having  carefully  examined  the  horrible 
state  of  the  patients,  he  ordered  the  nearest  apothe- 
cary to  furnish  on  his  account  all  the  ordered  medi- 
cines, besides  promising  to  visit  them  twice  a  day. 
He  then  advised  me  to  hurry  back  to  the  city  to 
hire  a  nurse  and  to  provide  for  the  destitute  suffer- 
ers. In  the  course  of  one  hour  I  had  collected  over 
fifty  rubles,  a  nurse  was  sent  out  and  a  committee 
formed  to  visit  the  wretched  sufferers  daily. 

Five  weeks  afterward  a  man  entered  my  room, 
and  without  uttering  a  word  he  ran  to  me  and  kissed 
my  hands  and  my  boots.  I  was  frightened  at  the 
extraordinary  behavior  of  the  stranger,  but  what  was 
my  joyful  astonishment  when  I  recognized  the  father 
of  the  sick  family,  who  with  the  most  sincere  grati- 
tude assured  me  that  all  were  saved  and  that  by  the 
liberal  donations  of  his  coreligionists  he  was  in  quite 
a  comfortable  position. 

Another  time  I  was  called  upon  by  a  member  of 
my  congregation  to  save  him  with  his  family  from 
being  set  in  the  street  by  his  landlord.  "The  winter," 
he  said,  "is  a  hard  one;  for  more  than  three  months 
I  have  had  no  employment ;  all  our  clothes  and  fur- 
niture are  already  pawned;  we  have  no  means  what- 
ever to  sustain  our  life;  we  have  not  a  penny  to  pay 
the  rent  of  another  humble  dwelling;  and,  doctor,  if 
you  have  no  compassion  on  us  I  and  my  good  wife 
and  innocent  children  will  have  no  shelter  tomorrow, 
no  refuge  but  the  almshouse."  I  ordered  him  to  go 
home,  and  to  wait  for  me  in  the  evening.  I  soon 
had  collected  a  considerable  amount,  and  about  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening  I  was  at  the  poor  man's  door. 
I  peeped  in  through  the  slit  of  the  closed  window. 

238 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

A  dim  lamp  sparingly  illuminated  the  room,  which 
was  furnished  with  but  a  few  ragged  straw  chairs 
and  a  large  box  instead  of  a  table.  No  fire  was  in 
the  chimney,  and  hunger  and  cold  were  stamped  upon 
the  pale  and  trembling  faces  of  the  poor,  lovely  chil- 
dren. I  knocked  at  the  door.  All  of  them  were 
roused  up  by  the  fear  that  the  police  was  there  to 
remove  them.  The  children  ran  to  their  mother, 
clinging  to  her  knees  and  begging  for  shelter  against 
the  hard  officers.  I  stepped  into  the  room,  and  all 
their  eyes  were  turned  towards  me  inquisitively,  ask- 
ing whether  I  had  come  as  their  saving  angel,  or 
with  the  despondent  answer  that  I  could  not  do  any- 
thing for  them.  I  handed  the  father  the  money  and 
hurried  away,  for  I  could  not  bear  the  outbursts  of 
their  gratitude. 

These  same  poor  creatures,  with  whom  every  large 
city  is  quite  disproportionately  overburdened,  these 
families  who  spend  in  a  whole  week  sometimes  not 
more  than  one  ruble,  these  poor  men  and  women, 
who  live  on  Sabbath  and  holydays  on  some  bread, 
potatoes  and  herrings,  do  not  consider  themselves  as 
celebrating  the  Sabbath  without  providing  at  least 
their  two  lamps,  and  saving  a  penny  which  before 
the  commencement  of  the  service  they  throw  in  the 
almsbox  of  the  synagogue.  Charity  and  benevolence 
are  the  distinguishing  character  of  the  Russian  Jews, 
and  even  the  poorest  would  not  think  of  having  ful- 
filled his  religious  duties  without  contributing  to  the 
treasury  of  the  almoner  of  the  congregation. 

The  congregation  themselves  provide  enormous 
sums  for  the  wants  of  their  poor  and  indigent.  In 
Russia  it  is  a  law  that  every  man  has  to  pay  annu- 
ally  a   capital   tax   of   eight   rubles   to   the   imperial 

239 


MAX  IvItlENTHAL. 

treasury ;  the  trustees  of  the  Jewish  congregations 
are  responsible  for  the  amount  to  be  collected  from 
their  members.  And  in  order  to  raise  it  without 
any  inconvenience  to  the  poor  a  tax  of  one  cent  is 
raised  from  every  pound  of  Kosher  meat  sold,  which 
tax,  in  the  city  of  Vilna,  amounts  annually  to  thirty- 
six  thousand  rubles,  wherewith  the  taxes  of  the  poor 
are  paid,  and  the  splendid  Jewish  hospital  is  sup- 
ported. But  without  such  efficient  and  continuous 
aid,  starvation  among  at  least  one-third  of  the  Rus- 
sian Jews  would  be  the  order  of  the  day,  and  it  re- 
quires all  the  combined  and  untiring  efforts  of  our 
Russian  brethren  to  alleviate  a  state  of  suffering  and 
misery  which  is  entirely  unheard  of  in  Germany. 

XVI. 

About  six  months  after  my  arrival  in  Riga,  one 
Saturday  afternoon,  I  was  sitting  in  my  study  when 
the  P amass,  Mr.  Benjamin  Nachman,  entered  my 
room.  He  looked  extraordinarily  happy,  but  I  could 
not  guess  the  cause  of  it.  "What  is  the  matter,  sir?" 
I  asked  him,  after  some  remarks.  "Something 
astonishing  must  have  occurred  else  you  would  not 
be  in  such  a  good  humor." 

"Certainly,  doctor,"  he  answered,  "the  governor 
has  just  sent  for  me;  having  called  on  him  he  or- 
dered me  to  inform  you  forthwith  that  His  Majesty, 
the  emperor,  has  sent  you  a  valuable  diamond  ring 
in  acknowledgment  of  your  address  delivered  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  school.  He  had  inquired  of  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  Count  Stroganoff,  whether 
he  knew  you,  and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative 
the  emperor  asked  again  whether  he  had  read  your 

240 


MY    TRAVE;LS    in    RUSSIA. 

sermon,  with  which  he  himself  was  exceedingly 
pleased.  And  the  minister  confirming  the  good  opin- 
ion of  the  emperor,  the  latter  continued:  Xilienthal 
deserves  to  be  rewarded  for  his  excellent  effort; 
what  do  you  think  I  should  send  him?'  The  min- 
ister left  this  question  to  the  decision  of  the  em- 
peror, who  ordered  a  diamond  ring  to  be  presented 
to  you  in  his  name;  and  the  governor  wishes  you 
to  be  at  his  residence  this  evening  at  six  o'clock  to 
hand  you  the  imperial  gift." 

I  was  quite  dumbfounded  and  stunned  with  joy. 
In  Germany  how  scarce  are  these  royal  tokens  of 
approbation!  How  many  trials  of  faithful  services 
have  the  officers  to  go  through  before  they  can  boast 
of  the  least  exceptional  distinction;  and  I,  a  stranger 
and  but  a  short  time  in  the  country,  honored  with 
such  an  imperial  favor!  I  really  did  not  know  what 
to  answer  or  how  to  believe  it.  At  last  I  found 
words  and  said:  "Oh,  what  will  my  old  father  say? 
How  satisfied  will  he  be  with  me !"  Young  as  I  was, 
I  was  quite  in  rapture  the  whole  afternoon,  and 
awaited  anxiously  the  evening  to  call  on  the  gov- 
ernor. 

"Your  fortune  is  made  in  Russia,"  the  governor 
said  to  me.  "You  have  drawn  the  emperor's  atten- 
tion to  yourself,  and  that  is  all  you  need  to  insure  your 
success.  I  congratulate  you  heartily  on  the  imperial 
gift  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you,  and  tomor- 
row I  shall  send  you  the  official  document  accom- 
panying it."  I  thanked  him  for  his  good  wishes,  and 
could  not  restrain  myself  from  looking  at  the  ring, 
which  had  in  its  midst  a  big  smaragd,  adorned  with 
two  lines  of  diamonds.  Dismissed  by  this  high  func- 
tionary,  I  hurried  to  Director  Napierski,  whom,  as 

241 


MAX  UUKNTHAt. 

my  next  chief,  I  had  to  inform  of  the  present  for- 
warded to  me  by  another  minister  than  the  one 
under  whose  command  we  were  standing.  The  di- 
rector was  quite  confounded,  but  hiding  his  aston- 
ishment, he  congratulated  me  too,  and  told  me  that 
he  would  report  about  it  at  once  to  the  department. 
I  created  there  some  sensation  favorable  to  my  fu- 
ture career,  all  the  officers  known  to  the  emperor 
being  continually  treated  with  particular  kindness. 

Some  time  afterwards  the  director  sent  me  notice 
that  the  curator,  Lieutenant-General  Kraftstroem, 
had  arrived  from  Dorpat,  and  that  on  the  next  day 
he  would  visit  our  school.  We  made  the  necessary 
preparations  to  meet  all  the  expectations  of  military 
discipline ;  every  boy  was  reviewed  by  a  committee, 
in  order  to  appear  as  clean  and  proper  as  a  soldier, 
and  finally  the  places  for  the  pupils  were  measured 
out  with  a  cord,  so  that  they  formed  straight  lines 
as  on  a  parade.  These  trifles  are  not  matters  of 
secondary  consideration  in  Russia,  for  Nicholas  him- 
self, when  visiting  the  colleges  and  imperial  boarding 
schools,  sometimes  ordered  the  boys  to  take  off  their 
trousers  and  boots,  to  see  whether  their  drawers  and 
stockings  were  clean. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  carriage  drove  to  our  door, 
and  a  general,  fully  six  feet  high,  accompanied  by  the 
director,  alighted.  Being  introduced  to  him,  he  asked 
me  rather  sternly  why  I  had  not  called  on  him  when 
passing  through  Dorpat.  I  excused  myself  on  the 
score  of  the  accident  that  had  befallen  me  on  my 
journey  to  Riga,  and  without  continuing  the  subject 
he  ordered  me  to  show  him  into  the  schoolroom.  He 
entered  it,  and  at  once  exclaimed:  "That  does  not 
look    like    a    Jewish    schoolroom,    and    I    am    quite 

242 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  boys.  Y^u  must 
have  had  great  trouble,  doctor,  with  your  Polish 
pupils,  to  bring  them  in  so  short  a  time  to  such  a 
state  of  propriety,  order  and  cleanliness." 

"Not  at  all.  Your  Excellency,"  I  replied.  "Our 
Polish  boys  are  the  most  gifted  I  ever  met  with;  it 
required  not  more  than  the  usual  attention  and  some 
encouragement  to  get  on  exceedingly  well  with  them, 
and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  in  six  months 
hence  our  school  will  compare  most  favorably  with 
any  in  Your  Excellency's  district." 

"You  are  rather  too  confident,  doctor.  I  should 
rather  feel  astonished  at  seeing  your  prophecy  ful- 
filled." 

Instead  of  enlarging  on  this  fruitless  discussion,  I 
asked  him  for  permission  to  examine  the  boys  in  his 
presence,  and  he  felt  so  satisfied  that  he  invited  me 
to  come  and  see  him  in  the  afternoon. 

After  having  addressed  the  boys  in  a  very  kind 
manner,  and  having  shaken  hands  with  me,  he  took 
leave.  In  the  hall  he  saw  a  box  with  the  inscrip- 
tion:  "Alms  for  our  orphans".  He  asked  the  di- 
rector to  give  him  a  ducat,  and  to  be  very  careful 
that  it  be  not  a  clipped  one.  Deeply  offended  at  this 
untimely  hint,  I  replied:  "Your  Excellency,  this 
subject  is  not  taught  in  our  school,  and  hence  never 
mentioned  before  our  boys".  He  smiled,  saying: 
"Good,  doctor;  very  good".  The  next  morning  a 
plain  man  came  to  visit  the  school.     "I  am  Professor 

R ,  the  Commissioner  of  the  University,  and  am 

here  to  examine  your  school",  he  said;  and  without 
further  ceremony  he  took  off  his  cloak  and  continued 
for   four  hours   the   most   rigid  examination  of  the 


243 


MAX  LIUEINTHAL,. 

pupils.     He  left  highly  pleased,  remarking:  "Doctor, 
you  shall  soon  hear  from  me". 

Four  weeks  afterwards  I  received  an  official  paper 
of  the  minister,  Count  Uwarofif,  informing  me  that 
the  emperor  was  highly  pleased  with  the  professor's 
report  about  the  progress  made  by  my  pupils  in  the 
Russian  language  and  in  their  general  deportment, 
joining  to  this  second  imperial  distinction  his  expres- 
sions of  sincere  acknowledgment  for  my  endeavors 
with  the  assurance  that  my  services  should  be  duly 
rewarded.  Five  weeks  afterwards  I  received  an  or- 
der from  the  department  to  start  for  St.  Petersburg 
immediately,  the  minister  being  in  want  of  my  advice 
and  service  in  the  deliberation  on  the  general  affairs 
of  the  Jews  in  the  Russian  empire. 

XVII. 

The  Jews  felt  rather  displeased  at  my  having  been 
called  to  St.  Petersburg  in  order  to  participate  in 
the  deliberations  on  the  Jewish  affairs  of  the  empire. 
Being  but  twenty-four  years  of  age,  they  said,  a 
foreigner,  and  totally  unacquainted  either  with  their 
religious  customs  and  habits,  or  with  the  sly  and 
cunning  diplomacy  of  the  Russian  government,  I 
must  be  quite  unfit  for  the  enormous  and  responsi- 
ble task,  to  the  accomplishment  of  which  I  was  in- 
vited. I  would  try,  they  continued,  to  germanize 
them,  would  trust  to  and  believe  every  insinuation 
of  the  authorities,  and  these,  under  the  pretext  of 
having  acquired  the  consent  of  a  Jewish  rabbi,  would 
dare  to  justify  any  of  their  proselytizing  schemes. 
And  they  were  not  quite  wrong  in  their  mode  of 
reasoning.      They    had    just    witnessed    what    cruel, 

244 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

harsh  and  barbarous  measures  the  emperor  had  or- 
dered against  the  CathoUcs  in  confiscating  and  de- 
stroying their  monasteries ;  they  had  learned  but  a 
short  time  ago  what  inhuman  tricks  had  been  played, 
what  an  autocratic  course  had  been  pursued  in  bringing 
over  the  Star  over  si  (a  Russian  sect)  into  the  bosom 
of  the  Greek  Church,  and  they  did  not  expect  any- 
thing good  from  my  visit  to  the  Russian  capital.  But 
during  the  short  time  I  had  passed  in  Riga  I  had 
acquired  information  enough  about  the  intentions  of 
the  czar  and  the  manner  in  which  his  propositions 
usually  were  carried  out,  and  had  resolved  upon 
speaking  out  freely  and  openly  my  opinion,  unmind- 
ful of  the  consequences  it  would  have  for  myself. 

The  minister  was  pleased  to  see  me,  and  ordered 
me  at  once  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  reorganization 
of  the  whole  Jewish  education.  "The  Committee  of 
Ministers",  he  remarked  to  me,  "appointed  by  His 
Majesty  to  carry  his  well  intentioned  reforms  into 
efifect  has  been  ordered  to  resume  forthwith  its  lab- 
ors, and  it  being  my  province  to  prepare  the  docu- 
ments necessary  for  the  better  education  of  the  Jews, 
I  thought  it  advisable  to  send  for  you.  Professor 
Risberg  having  recommended  your  young  school  to 
my  particular  attention.  It  is  my  intention  to  estab- 
lisli  some  Jewish  higher  colleges,  some  higher  and  a 
large  number  of  primary  schools.  You  will  draw  up 
a  plan  for  all  these  institutions,  define  the  subjects 
of  instruction,  the  method  to  be  pursued,  and  so 
forth,  and  the  earlier  your  task  will  be  finished  the 
more  you  will  oblige  me." 

I  thanked  His  Excellency  for  this  unmerited  con- 
fidence, but  stated  at  once  that  since  my  sojourning 
in   Riga   I   had   learned   that   my   coreligionists   were 

245 


MAX  UUKNTHAI,. 

full  of  mistrust  touching  all  the  proposed  measures 
of  the  government.  "I  am  fully  aware",  I  continued, 
"of  the  risk  1  run  in  using  this  expression,  partly 
by  exposing  my  Jewish  brethren  to  still  more  un- 
favorable treatment  by  the  government,  partly  by 
provoking  the  authorities,  who  really  may  be  well 
disposed  towards  their  Jewish  subjects.  But  the 
entire  future  prosperity  of  the  Russian  Jews  being 
at  stake,  I  think  it  improper  either  to  disguise  my 
feelings  or  to  conceal  anything  from  Your  Excel- 
lency. I  know  if  the  plan  of  giving  the  Jews  a  bet- 
ter training  more  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  time 
than  the  exclusively  Talmudical  they  have  enjoyed 
heretofore  is  not  carried  out,  that  the  government 
will  be  fully  entitled  to  use  any  means  it  may  choose 
to  bring  the  Jews  to  terms,  and  may  be  justified  in 
the  eyes  of  the  whole  civilized  world,  even  in  using 
the  most  barbarous  measures  to  carry  out  its  benev- 
olent and  enlightened  object.  But,  Your  Excellency, 
I  may  call  it  by  this  noble  name  only  on  the  condi- 
tion that  the  emperor  means  really  and  sincerely  a 
reform  of  his  Jewish  subjects;  but  in  case  of  the 
whole  being  but  a  farce,  a  pretext  for  wholesale  pros- 
elytism,  then  you  may  be  sure  that  your  labors  will 
not  be  crowned  with  the  desired  success.  Though 
the  most  unexpected  sufferings  may  be  heaped  upon 
my  brethren,  I  feel  assured  that  they  are  ready,  as 
they  were  during  the  last  eighteen  centuries,  to  en- 
dure any  misery  rather  than  to  give  up  their  re- 
ligion". 

"What  justifies",  the  minister  interrupted  me  hasti- 
ly and  angrily,  "these  suppositions  of  your  breth- 
ren" ? 

"The  course",   I  answered   frankly,   "the  Russian 

246 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

government  has  pursued  against  them  since  the  as- 
cension of  His  Majesty  to  the  imperial  throne.  The 
Jews  have  been  subjected  to  all  burdensome  taxations, 
and  no  favor  whatever  has  been  granted  them.  They 
entered  the  military  service,  and  though  recommended 
by  their  superiors  for  their  skill  and  their  good  be- 
havior, the  promotion  to  a  sergeantship  is  refused  to 
them;  they  have  entered  the  colleges,  visited  the  uni- 
versities, and  whenever  they  applied  for  an  appoint- 
ment it  was  granted,  but  under  the  condition  of  be- 
coming converts  to  Christianity.  Therefore  the  Jews 
see  in  the  whole  undertaking  only  a  plan  of  whole- 
sale proselytism,  and  do  not  greet  it  with  that  sincere 
joy  which  I  expected  on  their  part". 

"Well",  asked  the  minister,  "what  can  the  govern- 
ment do  to  remove  their  doubts"? 

"To  grant  at  once",  I  replied,  "their  emancipa- 
tion ;  or  if  the  government  considers  this  step  a  hasty 
one,  to  grant  them  at  least  some  favors,  convincing 
them  unquestionably  that  their  religious  rights  will 
not  be  infringed  upon,  nor  their  liberties  be  curtailed 
further,  and  that  a  bright,  hopeful  future  is  in  store 
for  them". 

The  minister  tried  to  appease  my  gloomy  forebod- 
ings, assuring  me  that  the  intentions  of  the  czar  were 
good  indeed,  and  ordered  me  to  begin  my  task  forth- 
with. In  the  course  of  three  weeks  I  had  finished 
the  desired  documents,  and  having  perused  them,  he 
expressed  to  me  his  entire  satisfaction.  They  were 
translated  into  the  Russian  language,  and  formed  the 
basis  for  the  papers  sent  to  the  Committee  of  Min- 
isters, 

He  then  charged  me  to  draw  up  a  paper  stating 
the  reason  why  the  direction  of  the  religious  aflfairs 

247 


MAX  LILIUNTHAL. 

of  the  Jews  should  be  taken  away  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  transferred 
to  tiie  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  In  former 
times  the  Minister  of  Instruction  was  charged  with 
the  entire  direction  of  the  religious  afifairs  of  the 
Jews,  but  about  ten  years  before  my  arrival  in  Rus- 
sia a  division  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  re- 
ligious affairs  of  all  the  denominations,  except  the 
Russian,  had  been  formed  in  the  Department  of  the 
Interior.  The  minister  was  anxious  to  have  this  im- 
portant subject  restored  to  his  department,  and  or- 
dered me  to  write  an  elaborate  document.  I  handed 
it  to  him  after  three  days,  and  he  was  so  pleased 
with  the  paper  that  he  sent  it  to  the  emperor  for 
approval.  But  Nicholas  sent  it  back  for  considera- 
tion to  the  Committee  of  Ministers,  who,  defeating 
this  plan,  felt  rather  displeased  with  this  untimely 
and  uncalled  for  statement. 

The  minister,  nevertheless,  had  obtained  a  rather 
good  opinion  of  my  real  abilities,  and  when  three 
weeks  afterwards  he  sent  me  back  to  Riga,  he  prom- 
ised me  that  my  services  should  not  be  forgotten, 
and  that  he  would  make  use  of  them  very  soon. 

XVIIT. 

After  having  returned  to  Riga  I  was  welcomed 
heartily  by  all  the  members  of  my  congregation,  who 
were  rather  uneasy  about  my  returning  into  their 
midst.  They  were  afraid  that,  as  happened  some- 
what later,  the  minister  would  retain  me  in  St. 
Petersburg,  while  they  themselves  were  still  badly  in 
need  of  my  humble  services,  and  their  joy  therefore 
was  sincere  and  intense.     Amongst  the  visitors  was 

248 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

also  the  only  member  of  the  sect  of  the  Chassidim 
in  my  congregation,  Rabbi  Nechemjah,  a  man  of  an 
imposing,  patriarchical  appearance,  but  of  fanatical, 
ultramissionary  principles.  He  had  come,  driven  by 
curiosity.  He  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  on 
in  St.  Petersburg,  and  what  the  minister  wanted  of 
the  Datschel,  and  after  having  answered  his  mani- 
fold inquiries  I  addressed  him :  "But  now,  Rabbi 
Nechemjah,  please  state  to  m.e  openly  and  frankly, 
what  do  you  think  of  my  having  been  called  to  the 
capital?  I  am  aware  that  you  do  not  look  upon  it 
favorably,  and  therefore  I  wish  to  know  your  opin- 
ion, as  it  will  represent  the  view  of  perhaps  a  very 
large  majority  of  my  Russian  coreligionists". 

"Well,  doctor",  answered  he,  "I  will  tell  you  a 
Mashal  (fable)  covering  the  whole  matter.  There 
was  once  a  king  who  had  a  great  many  Jews  in  his 
kingdom ;  but  never  having  seen  a  Jew,  and  knowing 
something  about  their  peculiarities,  he  ordered  that 
a  Jew  be  sent  to  his  court.  This  order  having  been 
communicated  to  the  Jews,  a  convention  of  all  the 
rabbis  was  called  for  electing  the  proper  man  in 
order  to  make  a  good  impression  upon  the  royal 
master.  The  man  was  soon  found;  but  some  rabbis 
suggested  that  it  would  be  unwise  and  quite  inad- 
visable to  send  a  man  with  a  long  beard,  and  it  was 
therefore  resolved  to  permit  the  Jew  to  cut  off  his 
beard.  The  beard  having  disappeared,  the  Peos  (long 
curls)  made  a  very  poor  and  gloomy  appearance,  and 
there  was  no  alternative  left  but  to  cut  off  the  Peos 
too.  The  man  had  then  rather  a  German  face,  and 
his  Schnbetse  and  fur  cap  would  not  correspond  with 
the  proposed  changes  and  alterations.  Well,  the  rab- 
bis called  a   final   meeting  in   which   they   agreed  to 

249 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

grant  the  Jew  the  permission  to  discard  his  pecuhar 
Jewish  garb  and  to  dress  himself  in  the  latest  Pari- 
sian style.  This  being  done,  the  Jew  was  dispatched 
to  the  capital,  where  the  king  at  once  granted  him 
an  audience.  But  what  was  the  Jew's  astonishment 
when  upon  his  entering  the  royal  chamber  the  king 
exclaimed :  'That  man  is  no  Jew  at  all ;  send  him 
back  immediately !'  " 

The  whole  company  laughed  at  this  witty  anecdote. 
I  joined  in  the  laughter,  and  for  years  the  proverb 
was  current,  "This  is  no  Jew  at  all".  But  such  a 
witticism  is  often  more  suggestive  than  the  plain 
assertion  of  the  truth,  and  I  foresaw  quite  well  what 
kind  of  vexations  were  in  store  for  me  as  soon  as  the 
minister  would  send  me  amongst  the  Jews  proper 
in  order  to  begin  the  establishment  of  schools  and  of 
reform. 

Soon  afterwards  I  was  visited  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Jewish  congregation  of  Mitau  to 
come  there  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  cele- 
bration of  a  thanksgiving  day  appointed  by  the  Jews 
of  that  city.  Mitau  is  the  capital  of  the  state  of 
Kurland.  The  number  of  the  Jews  in  that  province 
is  very  large.  Many  flourishing  congregations  are 
to  be  found  there ;  some  are  of  German,  some  of  Polish 
origin,  and  their  costumes  and  customs  are  there- 
fore almost  equally  divided.  But  poverty,  extreme 
poverty,  reigning  in  almost  all  the  congregations,  the 
Jews  of  Kurland  were  the  first  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  permission  granted  to  them  by  the  emperor  to 
settle  as  farmers  in  the  interior  of  Russia. 

As  everywhere  in  Europe,  so  also  in  Russia  the 
Jews  were  reproached  for  engaging  only  in  commer- 
cial pursuits  and  neglecting  agriculture  entirely.   They 

250 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

therefore  were  nicknamed  idlers,  who  preferred  an 
easy  trade  and  commerce  to  the  arduous  labors  of 
the  farmer,  and  exploited  the  agricultural  population 
by  their  commercial  tricks  and  usuries.  But  as 
everywhere,  so  also  in  Russia,  those  who  reproach 
the  Jews  with  these  faults  forget  intentionally  that 
it  is  not  fifty  years  since  the  Jews  were  forbidden  to 
settle  where  they  would,  and  that  the  sad  experience 
of  eighteen  centuries  has  taught  them  not  to  invest 
their  fortunes  in  farms  and  real  estate,  since  the 
avarice  of  kings  and  the  fanaticism  of  the  militant 
church  continually  drove  them  from  their  hearths 
and  exiled  them  from  every  place  where  they  thought 
they  had  found  rest  from  their  tiresome  wanderings. 
Such  a  fear  having  taken  hold  of  a  people,  it  can 
not  be  removed  by  the  stroke  of  the  pen  by  any 
government.  It  takes  years,  yea,  whole  generations, 
before  such  a  condition  can  be  remedied.  The  Jew, 
constantly  exposed  to  the  danger  of  being  driven 
away  from  his  home,  had  to  invest  his  means  in 
such  kind  of  property  which  he  could  carry  away 
with  him  in  case  of  expulsion,  and  therefore  it  was 
quite  natural  that  he  preferred  commercial  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Imperial  Treasury,  Count 
Kankrin,  perceiving  the  inability  of  the  Jewish  Russian 
population  to  pay  the  annual  taxes,  had  proposed 
to  the  emperor  a  great  many  times  to  permit  the 
Jews  to  settle  as  farmers  in  Siberia.  The  ukase  had 
hardly  been  issued  when  a  very  large  number  of 
Jews  applied  for  permission  to  go  with  their  fam- 
ilies thither.  When  Count  Kankrin  reported  these 
applications  to  the  emperor,  he  reconsidered  his  for- 
mer   resolution    and    refused    to    sign    the    necessary 

251 


MAX  LILIKNTHAL. 

documents.  Siberia,  the  abode  of  the  criminals,  was 
thought  too  good  for  the  poor  Jews.  These,  how- 
ever, in  the  meantime  had  sold  their  all,  and  de- 
prived of  all  means  of  subsistence  sank  daily  into  an 
ever  deeper  abyss  of  misery.  Encouraged  by  the 
imperial  ukase,  they  believed  that  they  would  be 
dispatched  to  their  new  homes  very  soon.  They 
made  every  possible  preparation  for  their  early  de- 
parture and  sold  many  of  their  possessions.  The 
order  for  their  departure  not  arriving,  they  were 
obliged  to  support  themselves  by  their  scanty  means ; 
these  being  soon  exhausted,  they  were  in  a  desperate 
state  of  poverty  and  despair.  All  their  petitions  to 
the  government  of  Kurland  remained  unanswered; 
all  their  solicitations  were  of  no  avail.  Month  after 
month  passed  by  and  there  was  no  spark  of  hope  for 
these  unfortunate  ones. 

At  last  the  news  arrived  in  Mitau  that  the  em- 
peror, on  his  journey  to  Germany,  would  pass  that 
city,  but  traveling  incognito,  he  had  forbidden  any 
ceremony  of  reception,  wishing  not  to  be  molested  by 
anyone.  But  a  poor  Jewish  woman  had  resolved 
upon  risking  everything,  and  when  the  imperial  car- 
riage stopped  at  the  postoffice,  without  caring  for  the 
gensdarmes  and  other  officers,  she  approached  the 
same  and  handed  to  the  emperor  her  petition.  Nich- 
olas received  it  very  graciously  and,  having  read  it 
through,  he  ordered  the  Cesarewitch  Alexander,  who 
was  sitting  near  him,  to  take  down  a  memorandum 
that  the  petition  ought  to  be  acted  upon  without  de- 
lay. A  few  weeks  afterwards  an  imperial  decree  was 
issued  ordering  the  government  of  Kurland  to  make 
the  necessary  preparations  at  once  and  to  dispatch 
the  Jews  into  the  new  settlements  which  the  emperor 

252 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

had  granted  them  in  the  southern  government  of 
Cherson.  The  joy  of  the  poor  Jews  was  intense;  the 
day  of  their  departure  had  been  fixed,  and  the  trus- 
tees celebrating  it  as  a  thanksgiving  day  had  invited 
me  to  come  into  their  midst  and  to  conduct  the  sol- 
emn ceremonies  of  the  day. 

A  deputation  of  the  congregation  came  to  accom- 
pany me  to  Mitau,  and  after  a  pleasant  trip  of  a  few 
hours  I  alighted  at  the  house  of  the  Parnass,  Mr. 
Wagenheim,  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine  and  a  very 
well-educated  man.  I  requested  him  to  introduce  me 
at  once  to  the  rabbi  of  the  place,  who,  as  I  had  al- 
ready been  informed  in  Riga,  did  not  enjoy  the  high- 
est reputation  among  his  coreligionists.  Nearly  his 
whole  family  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  what 
wonder,  therefore,  that  the  congregation  looked  with 
suspicion  upon  their  spiritual  guide.  He  was  known 
as  a  tricky,  cunning  man,  and  all  kinds  of  rumors 
were  afloat  regarding  his  character.  My  colleague, 
the  rabbi  of  Riga,  being  on  the  worst  terms  with 
him,  tried  to  make  him  ridiculous  whenever  he  could. 
Mr.  Wagenheim  introduced  me  to  him,  and  having 
exchanged  the  usual  compliments  we  discussed  the 
program  of  the  ceremony,  which  was  to  take  place 
the  next  morning.  Having  agreed  that  the  rabbi 
should  recite  the  selected  psalms  and  the  prayer  for 
the  government  and  that  I  should  deliver  the  sermon, 
I  left  his  house  remarking  to  the  Parnass :  "I  am 
afraid  that  the  rabbi  will  play  us  some  tricks  tomor- 
row; for  being  envious  of  my  invitation  I  should  not 
wonder  if,  as  usual,  he  would  cause  some  confusion". 
The  Parnass  tried  his  best  to  dispel  my  uneasy  fore- 
bodings and  I  passed  the  evening  in  the  company  of 


253 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

some  very  enlightened  Jews,  where  I  forgot  the  cere- 
mony and  all  the  preparations  for  it. 

But  already  at  five  o'clock  the  next  morning  the 
Parnass  entered  my  room.  "I  have  just  received  a 
message  from  the  rabbi",  he  addressed  me,  "to  the 
efifect  that  because  of  sickness  he  is  unable  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  ceremony  this  morning". 

"Did  I  not  tell  you  that  last  evening"?  I  inter- 
rupted him.  "The  rabbi  of  Riga  had  warned  me  that 
we  would  have  difficulties  with  your  man  and  that 
he  would  delight  in  annoying  us  in  every  way  pos- 
sible. Why  did  I  not  propose  another  plan  at  once"? 
"Oh"  !  replied  Mr.  Wagenheim,  "I  think  we  can  do 
very  well  without  him ;  the  Chasan  of  Szagarin  hav- 
ing arrived  this  morning  will  recite  these  psalms". 

"Yes,  your  Polish  Chazanim" ,  I  answered,  "with 
their  antiquated  Nigiinim,-^  what  do  they  understand 
of  a  ceremony  such  as  we  are  going  to  celebrate  to- 
day? The  Christian  nobility  whom  we  have  invited 
will  laugh  at  our  Jewish  taste  when  they  hear  the 
tasteless  quavers  and  trills  of  your  Chazanun" . 

"This  Chazan  is  an  exception  to  the  great  major- 
ity. I  will  call  him  in,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  form 
a  better  opinion  of  his  talents  after  hearing  him". 
The  door  having  been  opened,  a  young  man  some 
twenty  years  of  age,  of  a  very  fine  appearance,  and 
cleanly  clad  in  his  Polish  costume,  entered  the  room 
and  bowed  deeply.  "Are  you  able",  I  asked  him 
still  rather  angrily,  "to  recite  a  psalm  without  using 
your  Polish  melodies"? 

"Yes,  sir",  he  answered ;  and  beginning  the  one 
hundredth  psalm,  which  was  the  first  number  on  the 
program,  he  read  it  in  such  a  masterly  fashion  that 

^  Tunes. 

254 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

I  could  not  help  embracing  him.  He  was  one  of  the 
thousands  amongst  the  Polish  Jews  who,  naturally 
gifted,  perform  wonders  as  Chazanim  without  any 
musical  training  whatsoever.  Guzikow,  who,  with 
his  straw  harmonica,  aroused  the  greatest  excitement 
in  western  Europe,  is  not  the  only  master  on  this  in- 
strument. I  met  a  great  many  more  who,  if  favored 
by  opportunities,  would  create  the  same  musical 
furor.  I  met  afterwards  the  Chazan  of  Vilna,  who 
might  have  been  accounted  easily  amongst  the  fore- 
most living  tenors  of  our  age ;  whenever  this  young 
Polish  Jew  gave  a  concert  in  Warsaw  the  entire  no- 
bility constituted  his  audience,  and  sometimes  even  a 
countess  or  princess,  whose  pet  he  was,  sat  at  the 
door  to  receive  the  money  for  him.  I  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  Chazan  of  Minsk  who,  though  not 
as  fine  as  he  of  Vilna,  played  the  violin  very  well, 
and  astonished  his  congregation  every  Sabbath  with 
new,  masterly  compositions.  The  Chazan  of  Odessa, 
quite  a  young  man,  had  established  a  choir  that 
would  do  honor  to  any  metropolis,  and,  being  an 
eminent  musician,  his  compositions  were  considered 
by  Sulzer  as  good  as  any  in  the  unsurpassed  Shir 
Zion}^  And  lastly,  I  knew  a  man,  a  coppersmith  by 
trade,  who  read  the  service  only  on  New  Year's  Day 
and  on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  who  was  paid  ex- 
orbitant prices  by  any  congregation  for  whom  he 
consented  to  officiate  during  these  holy  days.  I  never 
heard  a  finer  voice  and  never  witnessed  a  service 
read  with  more  devotion  than  wherever  the  copper- 
smith officiated.  Of  this  stamp  of  men  was  the 
Chazan  of  Szagarin  ;  and  with  an  easy  heart,  a  few 

^  The  celebrated  collection  of  synagogue  music  by  Sulzer. 

255 


MAX  UUl^NTHAL,. 

hours  afterwards,  we  drove  to  the  handsomely  deco- 
rated synagogue. 

The  house  was  crowded  to  the  utmost.  The  front 
ranks  were  occupied  by  the  officers  of  the  govern- 
ment, decorated  with  their  numberless  stars  and  rib- 
bons ;  the  left  aisle  was  thronged  by  the  members  of 
the  congregation,  the  right  one  by  strangers  and  the 
families  of  the  colonists.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  look 
at  these  poor  creatures,  whose  features,  beaming  with 
joy,  indicated  that  they  really  were  thanking  God  and 
the  emperor  for  seeing  at  last  their  anxious  hopes 
and  expectations  fulfilled.  The  Chazan,  with  his 
sweet  and  manly  voice,  began  to  read  the  selected 
psalms ;  he  had  read  only  a  few  verses  when  every 
eye,  even  of  the  Christians,  was  full  of  tears.  He 
captivated  all  his  hearers,  and  not  the  nicest  prelu- 
dium  on  an  organ  could  have  prepared  them  better 
for  the  sermon  than  did  his  inspiring  recitation.  The 
text  of  the  sermon  was :  "Those  who  sow  with 
tears  shall  reap  in  joy".  I  expounded  all  the  advan- 
tages the  Jews  would  derive  from  the  benefits  granted 
to  the  Jews  by  Nicholas.  The  sermon  made  such  a 
favorable  impression  that  at  the  request  of  the  high- 
est officers  present  it  was  pubhshed  and  sent  to  all 
the  members  of  the  imperial  family.  Psalms  and 
prayers  concluded  the  service,  a  festival  dinner  the 
whole  ceremony,  and  a  most  favorable  report  on  the 
loyal  and  faithful  sentiments  of  the  Jews  was  for- 
warded to  St.  Petersburg. 

The  next  morning  I  witnessed  the  departure  of  the 
colonists.  It  was  heartrending  to  see  how  reluctantly 
they  separated  themselves  from  all  that  since  their 
childhood  had  been  dear  to  them ;  how  here  an  old 
father,   for  the  last  time,  embraced  and  blessed  his 

256 


MY    TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

children;  how  there  a  good  old  mother,  though  pre- 
pared for  months  for  this  moment,  would  not  sepa- 
rate herself  from  those  who  were  dearer  to  her 
maternal  heart  than  her  own  life;  how  on  another 
side  small  children,  not  comprehending  the  import- 
ance of  that  day,  rejoicing  in  the  idea  of  traveling, 
jumped  up  and  down  about  the  carts.  Ready  to 
provide  in  any  way  and  shape  for  the  comfort  of 
the  poor  travelers,  the  people  presented  gifts  in 
abundance  till  at  last  the  sign  for  the  departure  was 
given.  Commissioners  of  the  government  had  to  ac- 
company them;  and  after  having  pronounced  the 
usual  benediction  over  them  all,  and  in  a  fervent 
prayer  having  recommended  them  to  the  protection 
of  the  all-kind  Guardian  of  Israel,  we  took  leave  of 
them  and  saw  them  set  out  on  their  journey. 

The  preparations  of  the  government,  however,  had 
not  been  sufficient  to  provide  for  all  their  wants  on 
the  exceedingly  long  journey.  The  time  had  been 
too  short,  the  departure  too  hasty,  and  they  had  to 
endure  great  sufferings  and  privations  on  their  way 
to  Cherson.  There  things  were  not  in  the  proper 
order,  and  the  largest  majority  of  the  emigrants 
would  have  perished  there  but  for  the  humanity  and 
extraordinary  exertions  of  the  governor-general,  Count 
Woronzoff,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  alleviate  their 
sufferings  and  to  make  their  new  home  as  comfort- 
able as  possible. 

XIX. 

Time  rolled  on,  and  though  the  treasury  of  my 
congregation  was  sometimes  so  depleted  that  we  had 
to  take  up  voluntary  contributions  in  order  to  defray 

257 


MAX  IJUICNTHAL,. 

the  most  urgent  expenses,  I  passed  my  time  very 
agreeably  in  my  flourishing  school  and  in  a  beloved 
circle  of  intimate  friends.  I  had  won  the  implicit 
confidence  of  the  old  rabbi  and  the  members  of  the 
congregation.  The  improvements  we  had  introduced 
in  the  service  by  regular  German  sermons,  the  Con- 
firmation, etc.,  had  banished  all  fear  and  apprehen- 
sion, and  happy,  peaceable  days  seemed  to  be  in  store 
for  me. 

But  towards  the  end  of  the  year  1841  I  received 
a  communication,  addressed  to  me  by  Prince  Shirin- 
ski-Schichmatoff,  the  Director  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Instruction,  informing  me  that  Mr.  Nisan 
Rosenthal  of  Vilna,  having  represented  to  the  min- 
ister the  possibility  of  establishing  another  flourishing 
Jewish  school  in  that  city.  His  Excellency  ordered  me 
to  accompany  him  thither  as  soon  as  Mr.  Rosenthal 
would  call  on  me,  and  then  to  report  to  him  on  the 
progress  I  had  attained.  A  week  afterwards  Mr. 
Rosenthal,  a  modernized  Polish  Jew,  a  very  hand- 
some man,  indeed,  entered  my  room.  He  had  just 
been  decorated  by  the  emperor  with  the  golden  medal 
for  some  services  rendered  to  the  crown,  and  tried, 
like  the  politicians  in  this  country,  to  gain  some  dis- 
tinction and  to  make  a  living  by  all  kinds  of  schemes 
and  plans.  He  stood  not  in  the  best  graces  of  his 
coreligionists,  being  considered  as  one  of  the  new 
lights  or  Berliners,  as  the  reformers,  adjudged  to  be 
the  followers  of  Mendelssohn  in  Berlin,  are  called  in 
Vilna.  He  was  hated  by  the  Poles,  who  considered 
him  one  of  their  secret  enemies.  Though  disliking 
the  man  in  whose  company  I  had  to  start  on  my  mis- 
sion, I  had  to  obey,  and  the  next  morning  we  left 
for  Vilna. 

258 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

With  this  departure  from  Riga  began  the  second 
act  of  my  drama  in  Russia.  Till  then  I  had  passed 
my  time  in  congregations  in  which  the  German  ele- 
ment, having  some  preponderance,  had  exercised  a 
benign  influence.  The  rays  of  German  Jewish  cul- 
ture, by  the  means  of  Philippson's  Zeitung  des  Ju- 
denthums,  had  already  penetrated  into  these  distant 
abodes  of  Russia;  and  the  German  dress,  the  pure 
German  language,  the  intercourse  with  the  highly  ed- 
ucated Christian  citizens  had  quite  prepared  them 
for  a  mission  such  as  mine  was  in  Russia.  But  now 
I  had  to  mingle  with  quite  a  dififerent  set  of  men. 
Some  families  in  Vilna  and  Minsk  excepted,  who  by 
reading  Mendelssohn's  translation  of  the  Pentateuch, 
his  and  his  pupils'  Biurim,-'^  or  Brockhaus'  Lexicon 
and  the  standard  writers  of  Germany,  had  become 
more  enlightened.  I  had  to  meet  a  million  of  such 
orthodox  Jews  as  are  totally  unknown  in  Germany. 
Their  language  is  the  most  corrupt  jargon,  inter- 
mixed with  Russian  and  Polish  words ;  their  dress 
was  entirely  different  from  mine;  their  views  and 
opinions  dated  centuries  back ;  they  were  eminent 
masters  in  the  Talmud  and  rabbinical  literature,  but 
totally  ignorant  of  all  other  sciences  or  worldly  af- 
fairs, full  of  prejudices  and  superstitions,  and  sunk 
into  the  fathomless  abyss  of  wild,  unintelligible,  yea 
incredible  beliefs.  Great  difficulties  were  in  store  for 
me,  but  I  could  only  follow  the  star  of  my  destiny 
and  to  await  the  things  that  were  coming. 

Having  traveled  all  night,  we  alighted  in  the  morn- 
ing at  the  postoffice  in  the  town  of   W .     The 

postmaster  there,  as  in  all  the  governments  in  which 

"  Commentaries. 

259 


MAX  LILIENTHAL. 

the  Jews  are  permitted  to  settle,  was  a  Jew.  He  had 
nearly  a  hundred  horses  in  his  stable  and  seemed  to 
be  of  good  standing.  But  as  the  passports  in  every 
station  have  to  be  recorded,  and  this  office  not  being 
entrusted  to  the  Jews,  but  to  Christian  secretaries 
appointed  everywhere  for  that  purpose,  I  found  also 
there  a  secretary  inquiring  for  my  passport,  and  was 
informed  that  the  secretary  was  a  Karaite.  I  felt 
grieved  at  this  distinction  made  by  the  government 
between  the  Jews  proper  and  the  Karaites,  and  was 
informed  by  the  postmaster  that  unfortunately  the 
Karaites  were  more  trusted  by  the  government  than 
the  Jews  and  that  the  hatred  and  the  suspicion  be- 
tween these  two  classes  were  intense;  that  the  gov- 
ernment, by  favoring  the  Karaites  intended  merely 
to  allure  the  large  number  of  the  Russian  Jews^®  into 
Karaism,  but  that  as  soon  as  this  purpose  was  at- 
tained the  Karaites  would  be  treated  as  mercilessly 
as  the  Jews  were  at  present. 

While  my  companion  was  taking  breakfast  and  in- 
dulging in  conversation  with  some  Jewish  merchants, 
I  hurried  out  to  look  at  the  town.  I  never  before 
had  witnessed  such  a  large  number  of  Jews  to  almost 
the  entire  exclusion  of  the  Christians.  Wherever  I 
looked,  out  of  every  corner,  out  of  every  house 
there  came  Jews,  some  with  their  Talith  and  Tefilin-^ 
returning  from  the  Beth  Hamidrash,^°  others  hurry- 
ing to  their  business,  most  of  them  earnest,  gloomy 
faces,  absorbed  in  their  various  thoughts  and  occu- 
pations.    The  place  had  an  aspect  of  rather  an  en- 

^  In   contrasting  Jews  with  Karaites  here  and  elsewhere, 
Dr.  Lilienthal  means  "rabbinic  Jews". 
^'  Phylacteries. 
'"  House  of  study. 

260 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

tirely  Jewish  town  than  of  a  Christian  city.  But  the 
carriage  awaited  me,  and  on  it  went,  without  delay, 
through  a  great  many  more  cities  of  this  kind,  till 
on  Tuesday  evening  we  alighted  at  a  Jewish  hotel 
in  Vilna. 

Vilna,  even  in  Poland,  is  called  ^S"!^*":!  ni<T  Tj;, 
the  metropolis  of  Israel!  And  when  Napoleon  I,  on 
a  Friday  afternoon  in  1812,  having  entered  the  gates 
of  this  city  rode  through  its  streets  he  exclaimed  to 
his  marshals :  "Gentlemen,  I  think  we  are  in  Jeru- 
salem". Coming  from  Germany,  where  in  all  the 
cities  the  Jews  are  in  the  minority,  entirely  disap- 
pearing amongst  the  larger  majority  of  their  Chris- 
tian fellow  citizens,  I  did  not  know  what  to  make 
out  of  this  swarming  beehive  of  Jews.  I,  too,  be- 
lieved myself  to  be  in  Palestine  instead  of  in  Russia, 
so  entirely  and  thoroughly  Jewish  appeared  to  me  the 
city  of  Vilna.  Vilna  had  at  that  time  some  thirty 
thousand  Jews,  and  two-thirds  of  them,  I  suppose, 
are  continually  in  the  streets,  hunting  after  a  poor 
living.  All  the  numerous  stores  belong  to  Jews ;  the 
women  tend  to  that  business,  and  their  black  raven 
eyes  spy  anxiously  for  customers.  Lively  and  en- 
dowed with  a  commercial  spirit,  they  talk  and  dis- 
cuss zealously  and  earnestly  their  business  specula- 
tions, and  the  shrewdest  man  finds  a  match  in  them. 
The  men  are  more  engaged  in  outdoor  business,  in 
large  enterprises,  and  with  their  large  cloaks  over 
their  Schuhetse,  you  see  them  restlessly  and  contin- 
ually moving  to  and  fro.  There  is  no  trade  which  is 
not  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  I  re- 
membered the  different  imperial  and  royal  decrees  of 
western  Europe  encouraging  the  Jews  to  dedicate 
themselves    to    the    different    trades,    recollected    the 

261 


MAX  UUSNTHAl,. 

many  Jewish  societies  established  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, and  recalled  the  wholesale  accusations  I  had 
heard  in  St.  Petersburg  that  the  Jews  were  idlers, 
were  peddlers  and  hucksters ;  here  I  found  just  the 
contrary — practical,  actual  life,  refuting  all  these 
calumnies.  At  every  new  building  there  were  Jewish 
masons  and  carpenters  working  as  hard  and  skillfully 
as  the  best  mechanics  in  Germany.  There  was  no 
difficult  trade  whatever,  as  coppersmiths,  etc.,  which 
was  not  practiced  by  the  Jews ;  and  the  lighter  ones, 
as  tailors  and  shoemakers,  were  so  overcrowded  that 
a  poor  fellow  working  day  and  night  hardly  could 
make  a  living.  I  was  told  that  there  are  over  two 
thousand  tailors  and  shoemakers  in  the  city  of  Vilna 
alone,  which  can  not  possibly  support  such  a  host  of 
competitors.  Cartmen  and  day  laborers  are  Jews, 
and  all  other  businesses  of  this  kind  requiring  ath- 
letic, powerful  men  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Israelites, 
It  was  indeed  a  strange  experience  to  see  the  mass 
of  these  men  who,  in  the  midst  of  their  toil  and 
moil,  always  had  their  head  covered  with  their  leath- 
ern or  velvet  Jarmeke  (cap)  and  their  body  adorned 
with  the  enormously  long  Arha  Kanfoth.  I  was 
dumbfounded.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  were  the 
god  Janus  of  old,  endowed  with  two  faces,  the  one 
looking  forth  into  the  time  of  our  civilized  age,  the 
other  looking  back  into  the  remote  centuries  of  the 
middle  ages.  With  open  eyes  I  seemed  to  dream, 
and  it  required  some  time  before  I  became  familiar 
with  that  new  spectacle. 


262 


MY   TRAVEivS    IN    RUSSIA, 


XX. 


On  Thursday  night  an  assembly  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  congregation  was  convened  in  order  to 
hear  the  propositions  I  had  to  make  to  them  by  order 
of  the  government.  A  committee  led  me  into  the 
vestry,  where  I  found  some  hundred  men  assembled, 
all  dressed  in  their  Schubetse  and  their  fur  caps.  I 
felt  so  lonesome  in  the  midst  of  these  strange  faces 
— the  only  Datschel  in  the  crowd  of  Polish  Jews. 
The  president  of  the  congregation,  a  wealthy  man, 
but  of  a  very  insignificant  appearance,  a  great  Tal- 
mudist,  but  without  any  other  education,  who,  on 
account  of  his  riches  and  his  fanatically  orthodox 
ideas  exercised  a  great  influence,  welcomed  me  in  the 
name  of  the  illustrious  congregation,  gave  me  his 
chair,  and  requested  me  to  state  the  purpose  of  my 
visit  with  which  I  had  honored  them. 

I  stated  to  the  meeting  that  my  visit  was  of  no 
official  character.  They  were  well  aware  that  the 
emperor  had  appointed  a  special  committee  of  min- 
isters to  take  into  consideration  the  afifairs  of  the 
Jews  from  a  religious  as  well  as  from  a  political 
and  educational  point  of  view,  that  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment was  determined  upon  introducing  a  whole- 
some change  and  that  its  intentions  could  not  be 
eluded  this  time.  Minister  Uwaroff,  a  friend  of  the 
Jews,  had  ordered  me  to  tell  my  coreligionists  that 
they  should  not  let  the  opportunity  presented  to  them 
escape  as  they  had  done  in  the  time  of  the  late  Em- 
peror Alexander,  when  the  delegates  called  to  the 
capital  were  dismissed  with  the  greatest  disgrace  to 
themselves  as  well  as  to  their  constituents ;  that  His 
Excellency  wished  the  Jews  to   establish   schools   in 

263 


MAX  ULIljNTHAIv. 

accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  time  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  age  before  the  government  would  order 
and  compel  them  to  do  so.  By  such  a  procedure 
they  would  dispose  the  government  in  their  favor, 
and  being  aware  what  an  immense  influence  the  Jew- 
ish metropolis  of  Vilna  exercised  upon  the  Russian 
Jews  in  general,  he  hoped  that  by  setting  a  glorious 
example  they  would  take  the  whole  matter  into  their 
hands,  thereby  becoming  the  benefactors  and  regen- 
erators of  their  race. 

I  had  been  listened  to  silently.  The  younger  gen- 
eration in  Vilna,  imbued  with  the  progressive  spirit 
of  our  age  and  well  versed  in  the  Hebrew,  Russian, 
Polish,  German  and  partly  French  languages,  were 
enthused  by  my  short  address ;  they  hoped  to  see 
their  favorite  dreams  and  hopes  fulfilled  at  last. 
They  said,  "Now  the  time  has  come  in  which  a  Ger- 
man book  will  not  be  called  any  more  a  ^IDB  PiS^lD,^^ 
and  its  students  ignominious  heretics.  A  better  morn- 
ing is  dawning;  the  Schuhetse  will  be  done  away 
with ;  we  will  support  the  propositions  of  the  doctor 
enthusiastically ;  we  will  accept  and  uphold  them 
without  any  conditions  whatever." 

But  the  elders  sat  there  absorbed  in  deep  contem- 
plation. Some  of  them,  leaning  on  their  silver- 
adorned  staffs  or  smoothing  their  long  beards,  seemed 
as  if  agitated  by  earnest  thoughts  and  justifiable  sus- 
picions ;  others  were  engaging  in  a  lively  but  quiet 
discussion  on  the  principles  involved ;  such  put  to 
me  the  ominous  question :  "Doctor,  are  you  fully 
acquainted  with  the  leading  principles  of  our  govern- 
ment ?     You  are  a  stranger ;  do  you  know  what  you 

^^  An  unclean,  forbidden  thing. 

264 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

are  undertaking?  The  course  pursued  against  all 
denominations  but  the  Greek  proves  clearly  that  the 
government  intends  to  have  but  one  church  in  the 
whole  empire ;  that  it  has  in  view  only  its  own  future 
strength  and  greatness  and  not  our  own  future  pros- 
perity. We  are  sorry  to  state  that  we  put  no  confi- 
dence in  the  new  measures  proposed  by  the  minis- 
terial council,  and  that  we  look  with  gloomy  fore- 
boding into  the  future". 

"I  am  well  aware  of  your  apprehensions",  I  an- 
swered the  respectable  old  man  who  had  been  the  in- 
terpreter of  the  feelings  of  the  gray-headed  and  sil- 
ver-bearded assembly,  "and  was  well  informed  of  all 
that  is  going  on  during  my  sojourn  in  Riga.  The 
question  we  have  to  consider  is  this :  Can  we  avoid 
the  threatening  danger  by  the  useless  answer  that 
we  do  not  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it?  I 
am  convinced  that  the  Jewish  affairs  are  now  in  such 
hands,  that  they  surely  will  be  acted  upon.  What 
will  we  gain  by  a  wilful  resistance?  We  will  draw 
the  dissatisfaction  of  the  government  upon  ourselves, 
will  provoke  justifiable  ill  feeling  and  merely  expose 
ourselves  to  dangers  still  more  discouraging.  I  have 
pondered  upon  this  subject  carefully;  but  after  ma- 
ture and  serious  consideration  I  have  found  it  best 
to  take  this  matter  at  once  in  our  hands,  and  having 
established  schools  according  to  our  plans,  our  means 
and  under  our  own  superintendency,  we  will  antici- 
pate the  measures  of  the  government.  By  thus  pre- 
senting our  intentions  and  views  in  a  favorable  light, 
I  entertain  not  the  least  doubt  that  our  schools  will 
be  sanctioned  and  our  plans  ratified  by  the  depart- 
ment of  public  instruction". 

"But   what  guarantee",   asked   another  gentleman, 

265 


MAX  WIvlENTHAI,. 

"can  you  offer  us  that  our  religion  will  not  be  en- 
croached upon" ? 

"Gentlemen",  I  replied,  "born  in  Russia,  you  know 
a  great  deal  better  than  I  that  I  am  unable  to  offer 
you  any  guarantee  on  the  part  of  the  department. 
The  emperor's  will  reigns  supreme  and  autocratic; 
he  can  recall  today  what  he  has  promised  yesterday ; 
he  changes  his  officers  and  their  systems  whenever 
he  pleases.  How  should  I,  an  humble  stranger,  be 
able  to  offer  you  a  guarantee?  I  am  not  empowered 
to  do  it.  All  that  I  can  promise  you  as  your  co- 
religionist is  that  I  shall  not  go  a  step  further  in 
promoting  the  plans  of  the  government  before  hav- 
ing obtained  the  assurance  that  nothing  will  be  un- 
dertaken against  our  holy  religion,  that  I  shall  lay 
down  my  office  as  soon  as  I  shall  become  convinced 
of  the  contrary,  and  that  no  offense  on  the  part  of 
my  brethren  shall  excuse  me  for  breaking  this  prom- 
ise I  am  giving  you  in  this  solemn  hour." 

This  assurance  was  received  with  general  satisfac- 
tion. Some  of  the  members  present  hurried  up  to 
me  and  shook  my  hands  heartily ;  others  welcomed 
me  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  and  the  confidence 
and  good  understanding  seemed  to  be  restored.  "He 
is  an  honest  Datschel,"  remarked  one.  "I  have  heard 
of  him  in  Riga,"  said  another.  "He  enjoys  the  rep- 
utation of  a  good,  pious  Jew ;  he  is  right,"  observed 
a  third.  "We  must  accept  cheerfully  this  disagree- 
able news ;  useless  resistance  will  only  make  matters 
worse."  Thus  the  observations  continued,  till  one  of 
the  trustees  asked  me :  "But  doctor,  there  is  another 
consideration.  In  Germany,  where  they  have  neg- 
lected the  study  of  the  Talmud  these  past  thirty 
years,  and  have  indulged  in  the  study  of  all  kinds 

266 


MY   TRAVE;LS    in    RUSSIA. 

of  profane  sciences,  our  Jewish  religion  has  been 
sadly  wronged,  the  ties  of  the  heavenly  yoke  have 
been  loosened ;  the  old  respect  for  our  sacred  ordi- 
nances is  gone,  and  many  of  our  brethren  have  em- 
braced Christianity.  Is  it  not  in  the  interest  of  our 
creed  to  keep  away  from  all  these  innovations,  to 
adhere  to  our  ancient  mode  of  life,  to  educate  our 
children  as  we  have  been  educated,  finding  in  the 
past  a  safer  guarantee  for  our  existence  than  in 
present  innovations?" 

"My  dear  friend,"  I  replied  to  him,  "the  wheels 
of  progressive  time  can  not  be  stopped  by  man's 
frail  hands.  In  Germany  also  the  ancient  usages 
reigned  with  universal,  omnipotent  sway;  but  the 
new  ideas  nevertheless  found  their  way  into  the  se- 
cluded and  hidden  abodes  of  the  Jews.  The  old  rab- 
bis condemned  and  excommunicated  Mendelssohn 
and  his  undertaking,  and  instead  of  reconciling  the 
new  views  with  the  demands  of  our  creed,  they 
looked  either  with  indifference  and  contempt  or  with 
grief  and  inactive  pity  at  the  change  that  went  on 
under  their  eyes.  We  must  not  follow  their  example. 
We  must  try  to  anticipate  the  injurious  consequences 
by  uniting  the  most  intense  love  and  obedience  to 
our  faith  with  the  demands  of  life.  This,  however, 
is  a  topic  whose  discussion  we  can  not  finish  this 
evening,  but  I  am  ready  to  discuss  that  subject  with 
you  whenever  you  may  find  it  convenient.  This  eve- 
ning I  wish  only  to  know  without  intruding  upon 
your  earnest  consideration  how  you  receive  the  com- 
munication I  had  to  make,  and  what  I  shall  report 
to  St.  Petersburg." 

The  Parnass  assured  me  that  as  far  as  he  knew 
the  views  of  his  board  I  might  be  sure  of  fair  suc- 

267 


MAX  UUENTHAI,. 

cess,  that  Vilna  would  come  up  to  the  expectations 
entertained  by  the  department ;  that  without  delay 
they  would  take  the  establishment  of  a  large  school 
into  earnest  consideration,  and  would  inform  me  of 
their  resolutions  as  soon  as  they  would  have  agreed 
upon  a  plan.  We  separated  with  the  best  feelings, 
and  when  we  came  down  the  stairs  the  Shamashinv"^ 
took  me  upon  their  shoulders  and  carried  me  in  tri- 
umph to  my  carriage,  which  was  surrounded  by  my 
young  Jewish  friends  of  Vilna. 

On  Friday  morning  I  hurried  to  pay  my  visit  to 
the  chief  rabbi  of  Vilna,  Rev.  Israel  Gordon.  Vilna 
has  two  Jewish  courts  {Beth  Din),  in  which  Din 
Thora^  is  still  practiced,  and  where  daily  a  great 
many  lawsuits  are  decided.  Besides  there  are  twelve 
other  rabbis  deciding  all  the  religious  questions,  but 
Mr.  Gordon  is  acknowledged  by  the  government  as 
the  official  rabbi  using  the  crown's  seal  and  signing 
all  the  official  papers.  When  the  government  began 
to  meddle  with  the  congregational  affairs  some  of  the 
rabbis  of  old  standing  refused  to  accept  the  office 
of  "government  rabbi,"  being  afraid  of  the  vexa- 
tions of  the  greedy  officers,  and  men  more  acquainted 
with  the  worldly  affairs  were  elected  as  the  "crown 
rabbis,"  while  the  old  ones  attended  to  the  different 
religious  duties.  But  Mr.  Gordon  combined  in  his 
person  both  charges,  and  commanded  universal  love 
and  esteem  on  account  of  the  rectitude  and  amia- 
bility of  his  character.  I  was  ushered  into  his  pres- 
ence as  soon  as  I  entered  the  dwelling  and  found 
him  to  be  a  stout,  majestic  man  some  fifty  years  of 
age.     He  spoke  a  pure  German  fluently,  and  quite  up 

"  Sextons. 
*  Jewish  law. 

268 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

to  the  demands  of  the  time.  He  congratulated  me 
on  my  mission,  wished  me  every  possible  success, 
and  though  confessing  that  his  influence  in  the  Board 
of  Trustees  was  very  limited,  he  would  do  for  me 
whatever  was  in  his  power.  I  left  him  fully  as- 
sured that  I  had  found  in  the  rabbi  a  warm  friend 
of  my  cause. 

When  I  left  it  was  Friday  afternoon ;  the  Sabbath 
was  coming.  What  a  grand  change  was  now  taking 
place  in  the  aspect  of  the  Jewish  metropolis! 


XXI. 

It  was  Friday  afternoon ;  the  bustle  in  the  city 
seemed  to  increase ;  almost  the  whole  population  was 
busy,  buying,  selling,  hurrying  to  and  fro  as  if  the 
end  of  the  world  were  at  hand.  There  a  host  of 
men  hurried  into  the  baths  and  soon  afterwards  ap- 
peared cleanly  clad,  the  Peos  and  the  beard  all  wet. 
There  the  women  were  busy  in  closing  up  their  stores 
and  preparing  everything  for  the  sales  of  next  Sat- 
urday night.  The  mechanics  packed  up  their  tools 
repairing  in  all  haste  to  their  homes ;  the  cartmen 
drove  their  horses  into  their  stables,  and  the  mer- 
chants with  grave  countenances  retired  to  their  fam- 
ilies inspired  with  quite  other  thoughts  than  those 
engaging  them  in  the  course  of  the  week.  The  city 
continued  to  become  more  and  more  calm,  and  I 
prepared  to  visit  the  Jewish  Cathedral,  the  chief  syn- 
agogue amongst  a  hundred  minor  ones  with  which 
Vilna  is  overfilled. 

This  synagogue,  a  mighty  and  grand  structure, 
stands  on  the  Schulhof  in  a  circle  of  ten  or  twelve 

269 


MAX  UUSNTHAL. 

Klausen.^*  There  we  see  the  Klaus  of  the  Gaon 
Rabbi  EHjahu  Vihia,  in  which  that  pious  and  emi- 
nent scholar  was  used  to  pass  his  time  in  study  and 
devotion.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  a  Minyan^^  of 
poor  Lamdanim^'^  was  still  hired  to  say  there  their 
prayers,  and  to  study  therein  the  law  day  and  night. 
Even  today  the  reforms  he  introduced  are  strictly 
observed;  no  prayer  mentions  the  cabalistical  names 
of  angels;  no  Machsor^'^  is  recited  there;  and  the 
service  is  carried  on  in  the  same  way  as  if  the  Gaon 
was  alive.  Nearby  are  other  Klauses  instituted  by 
different  legacies,  and  the  Kaddish  for  the  pious  tes- 
tators is  said  morning  and  evening  by  a  poor  Lam- 
dan,  who  supports  his  destitute  family  by  the  re- 
muneration paid  to  him  out  of  the  interest  of  the 
legacy.  There  stands  the  great  Yeshibah,  instituted 
by  the  earnings  of  a  chimney-sweeper,  who,  being 
childless  and  living  very  economically  with  his  pious 
better  half,  bequeathed  his  whole  large  fortune  for 
the  support  of  an  institution  in  which  some  two  hun- 
dred pupils  were  instructed  in  all  the  branches  of 
Talmudical  literature  and  prepared  for  the  rabbinical 
chair.  And  in  the  midst  of  these  and  a  great  many 
other  synagogues  stood  the  magnificent  temple,  the 
Haiiptschul  of  Vilna. 

It  had  been  built  originally  by  the  Karaites  with 
all  the  exquisite  taste  and  splendor,  that  distinguish 
the  synagogues  of  this  sect.  But  when  they  were 
driven  away  from  Vilna  the  synagogue  was  handed 

^*  Small  synagogues,  frequently  private ;  often  used  as 
houses  of  study. 

'^  Congregation  of  ten  men. 

'°  Learned  men. 

"''  Book  of  Set  Prayers. 

270 


MY    TRAVE;i,S    IN    RUSSIA. 

over  to  the  Jews.  It  is  at  least  some  seventy  feet 
high  and  of  vast  dimensions.  I  was  struck  with  awe 
and  reverence  upon  entering  the  dark  and  gloomy 
vaults  surrounding  the  majestic  edifice.  It  was  as 
if  the  past  centuries  of  Jewish  history  were  greet- 
ing me.  It  was  as  if  they  themselves,  used  to  seeing 
only  the  costume  and  dress  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury were  astonished  to  perceive  a  modern  Jewish 
stranger  in  their  midst.  In  comparison  with  the  past 
which  these  gloomy  walls  have  witnessed,  I  appeared 
to  myself  so  little  and  so  insignificant.  Quite  an- 
other feeling  overpowers  one  here  than  that  which 
seizes  one  when  entering  our  newly  built  synagogues. 
Here  it  is  the  hope  of  the  future  that  smilingly  en- 
courages us  in  loyalty  to  our  sacred  creed;  there  it 
is  the  past  with  its  horrible  pangs  and  agonies  that 
asks  us :  "Will  you  not  laugh  at  our  sufferings  ? 
Will  you  not  become  faithless  to  that  eternal  truth 
for  which  we  have  sacrificed  blood  and  treasure?" 
Upon  entering  I  said  in  the  words  of  the  Patriarch 
Jacob,  "Truly  this  is  the  house  of  God  and  this  is 
the  gate  of  heaven." 

An  immense  staircase  led  down  into  the  interior 
of  the  temple,  the  railings  of  which  were  adorned 
with  innumerable  brass  boxes,  receiving  the  offerings 
for  the  many  charitable  institutions.  Even  the  poor- 
est man  who,  in  the  course  of  the  whole  week,  has 
saved  but  one  penny,  offers  his  mite  upon  the  altar 
of  charity  and  benevolence,  for  Zedakah^^  is  still 
practiced  today  as  the  chief  of  all  the  laws,  and  no 
one  would  consider  himself  as  having  fulfilled  his 
religious  duties  without  giving  Zedakah.  Having  de- 
scended this  staircase  you  reach  the  lower  end  of  the 

"Charity. 

271 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

synagogue  and  have  a  full  view  of  the  majestic 
building.  Three  mighty  galleries  for  the  women,  one 
above  the  other,  run  through  the  whole  length  of 
the  southern,  western  and  northern  aisles  of  the  syn- 
agogue and  accommodate  on  the  holidays  several 
thousand  women.  In  the  middle  of  the  building 
stands  the  Bimah  covered  by  a  richly  ornamented 
roof,  which  is  supported  by  four  marble  pillars  run- 
ning up  to  the  very  height  of  the  ceiling;  the  table 
plate,  upon  which  the  Torah  is  laid,  is  of  pure  mas- 
sive silver — an  old  legacy.  On  the  east  side  is  the 
holy  ark,  consisting  of  three  stories,  in  which  the 
numberless  Sephorim^^  are  kept,  and  to  which  leads 
an  ornamental  staircase  outside  of  the  ark.  It  is 
beautified  with  rich  carvings,  splendidly  gilded  or 
painted,  and  with  an  immense  curtain  covering  the 
doors  of  the  ark.  This  curtain,  a  few  years  before 
my  arrival,  caught  fire  on  Yom  Kippur,  and  several 
women  were  crushed  to  death  in  the  panic  that  en- 
sued. The  pews,  old-fashioned  "standers,"  crowd 
the  floor  of  the  synagogue,  which  on  the  holidays 
contains  from  twenty-six  hundred  to  three  thousand 
male  worshipers.  In  olden  times  the  first  four  lines 
of  pews  near  to  the  ark  could  be  occupied  but  by 
Morenus,  eminent  Talmudical  scholars,  and  there  is 
still  shown  the  pew  of  the  celebrated  Shabbatai  Cohn, 
who  was  Parnass  in  Vilna,  and  of  other  eminent 
men. 

I  was  shown  by  one  of  the  numerous  sextons  to 
a  seat  near  that  of  Rabbi  Gordon,  who,  however, 
very  seldom  visits  the  synagogue,  making  Minjan  in 
his  own  house  like  all  the  rabbis  of  old.  The  service 
was  not  very  well  attended,  everyone  on  Friday  night 

'°  Scrolls  of  the  law. 

272 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

preferring  to  visit  the  synagogue  next  to  his  dwelling. 
The  synagogue  was  richly  illuminated  with  wax  can- 
dles; the  celebrated  Chazan,  of  whom  mention  has 
been  made  above,  officiated  with  his  assistants  in  a 
most  edifying  manner,  and  having  received  many  a 
hearty  "Good  Shahbos,"  I  left  more  than  pleased  with 
the  service. 

When  I  reentered  the  streets  all  was  still  and  quiet. 
For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  had  an  idea  of  a  Sab- 
bath as  celebrated  by  our  ancestors  in  the  holy  land 
in  times  of  yore.  Heaven  and  earth,  moon  and 
stars,  houses  and  streets  all  preached:  "It  is  the 
Sabbath,  the  day  consecrated  by  the  Lord."  All  the 
stores  were  closed ;  no  cart  was  moving  in  the  street ; 
a  holy  tranquility  reigned  everywhere.  The  men  ex- 
cepted, who  returned  from  the  service,  no  person 
was  to  be  seen  in  the  wide  and  empty  streets.  The 
high  five-story  houses  were  illuminated  from  the  deep 
cellar  up  to  the  garret  rooms.  It  was  as  if  the  whole 
city  had  put  on  its  holiday  attire  to  receive  in  a  dig- 
nified manner  the  heavenly  bride  of  the  Sabbath.  I 
stood  full  of  amazement  in  the  midst  of  this  spec- 
tacle, sunk  in  deep  revery,  disturbed  only  now  and 
then  by  a  "Good  Shahbos"  addressed  to  me  by  the 
men  who  passed  by  and  quickly  disappeared  into 
their  different  houses. 

I  followed  some  of  them,  and  through  the  cleft 
of  a  window  shutter  looked  into  the  front  room 
anxious  to  observe  how  the  Sabbath  was  celebrated 
in  the  circle  of  these  families. 

How  clean,  how  tidy  looked  this  room !  The  floor, 
neatly  scrubbed,  was  strewn  with  sand ;  the  walls 
were  adorned  with  many  lighted  candlesticks;  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  stood  a  large  table  covered  with 

273 


MAX  LIUDNTHAL. 

snow  white  linen  on  which  were  several  pairs  of 
Chalos  (Sabbath-bread)  and  a  bottle  of  wine  with 
several  silver  cups.  In  one  nook  of  the  room  in  a 
large  leathern  armchair  sat  the  grandmother,  the 
head  covered  with  a  gold  embroidered  cap,  the  breast 
adorned  with  a  kind  of  richly  gilded  shield;  she 
played  with  a  little  grandson  sitting  on  her  lap.  The 
mother,  the  head  covered  with  a  turban,  and  the 
neck  adorned  with  a  golden  chain  and  medals,  sat 
with  folded  arms  engaged  in  a  quiet  conversation 
with  one  of  her  daughters-in-law.  All  were  nicely 
dressed  and  sat  around  the  walls ;  the  married  ones 
had  their  hair  hidden  beneath  the  turban ;  the  single 
ones  showed  their  long,  raven  black  tresses.  They 
waited  for  their  husbands,  and  none  would  dare  to 
disturb  the  holy  peace  of  the  Sabbath  by  loud  con- 
versation before  the  men  had  returned  with  the 
sweet  and  charming  greeting  of  a  "Good  Shabhos." 


XXII. 

At  last  the  door  opened  and  there  came  in  the 
grandfather,  the  father,  his  sons  and  sons-in-law. 
The  ladies  rose  and  welcomed  them  with  a  friendly 
and  hearty  "Good  Shahhos"  as  if  they  had  not  seen 
them  for  a  long  time,  or  as  if  on  Sabbath  they  were 
quite  other  men,  not  engaged  in  worldly  pursuits, 
but  entirely  prepared  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  a 
sweet  home  and  the  blessings  of  a  happy  family.  The 
grandfather,  a  man  of  some  fifty  years  of  age,  after 
having  greeted  the  angels  of  Sabbath  with  the  usual 
Shalom  Alechem^°  first  approached  the  table  to  say 

*°  "Peace  be  unto  you",  the  usual  word  of  greeting. 

274 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

Kiddiish.  His  wife,  rising  from  her  seat,  came  near 
him,  and  while  he  was  shaking  his  whole  body  in 
reciting  the  prayer  she,  standing  with  folded  arms, 
answered  with  sincere  devotion  the  "Amen,"  which 
was  encored  by  all  the  members  of  the  family.  Then 
came  the  father,  who  performed  in  the  same  man- 
ner the  holy  ceremony.  Then  came  the  turn  of  all 
the  married  sons  and  sons-in-law,  each  of  whom 
went  with  his  wife  to  his  place  at  the  large  family 
table  reciting  the  blessing.  After  a  short  conversa- 
tion they  took  their  seats  for  supper,  and  the  tran- 
quility, the  inward  satisfaction,  the  peace  of  mind 
that  reigned  in  the  whole  circle,  made  a  most  favor- 
able and  lasting  impression  on  me. 

I  hurried  home,  and  having  partaken  of  my  meal 
I  again  went  into  the  streets  to  see  what  was  going 
on.  It  was  quiet,  very  quiet,  everywhere;  but  here 
and  there  I  perceived  a  few  men  going  to  pay  a 
visit  to  their  relations.  I  again  looked  through  the 
windows  into  the  rooms  where  many  men  were  sing- 
ing their  Semiroth,  or  engaged  in  a  friendly  conver- 
sation either  with  the  members  of  their  families  or 
with  some  visitors.  All  had  a  different  appearance — 
the  gloomy,  care-worn  faces  had  disappeared;  every- 
body seemed  reconciled  with  his  God  and  the  trou- 
bles of  life;  the  mitigating  hand  of  religion  had  laid 
its  balm  upon  the  woes  of  wounded  hearts ;  the  ago- 
nies of  the  past  and  the  cares  of  the  future  seemed 
to  be  forgotten;  confidence  in  the  ever-living  God 
of  Israel,  in  his  kindness  and  bounty  having  taken 
their  place,  all  enjoyed  the  presence  and  the  bless- 
ings of  religion. 

But  soon  the  lights  began  to  be  extinguished. 
While  passing  several  houses   I  perceived  wife  and 

2/5 


MAX  UUUNTHAIv. 

children  already  asleep,  but  the  men  still  sitting  over 
a  Hebrew  book,  enjoying  the  study  of  a  commentary 
of  the  chapter  read  on  the  following  morning.  Half 
an  hour  more  and  Vilna,  that  beehive  of  Jews,  being 
quiet  and  still,  I  returned  to  my  hotel  really  de- 
lighted with  the  spectacle  I  had  witnessed  for  the 
first  time,  and  with  the  holiness  with  which  the  Sab- 
bath is  still  kept  among  our  coreligionists  in  Russia. 
On  Sabbath  morning  I  again  visited  the  synagogue, 
then  overcrowded.  Before  the  Sepher  Torah  was 
taken  out  I  was  invited  to  leave  the  synagogue  and 
to  come  into  one  of  the  adjoining  rooms.  It  being 
impossible  that  even  in  the  course  of  a  whole  year 
all  the  visitors  of  that  mighty  building  should  be 
called  to  the  reading  of  the  law,  the  members  of  the 
different  benevolent  societies  leave  the  service  before 
Keriath  HatoraJi*^  and  read  the  Parasha  in  one  of 
the  many  adjoining  rooms  to  their  members.  They 
are  very  jealous  of  their  privileges  and  it  is  consid- 
ered a  high  honor  to  be  invited  to  the  reading  of  a 
Parasha.  The  oldest  Chebrah*-  of  Vilna  honoring 
me  with  such  a  distinguished  invitation  I  began  to 
hope  for  the  success  of  my  mission. 

Service  being  finished,  I  was  introduced  to  the 
Stadt-Magid*^  of  Vilna,  who  attended  the  synagogue 
regularly.  He  was  a  man  of  some  sixty  years,  of 
high  stature  and  kindly  expression.  He  welcomed 
me  very  heartily.  He  was  greatly  beloved  in  Vilna 
for  his  talents  as  Magid  as  well  as  for  the  sincerity 
of  his  character  and  his  practical  views.  He  invited 
me  to  his  residence,  where  I  found  a  select  company 

*"  The  reading  of  the  Pentateuchal  portion. 
^  Society. 
"Chief  Preacher. 

276 


My    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

waiting  for  the  Torah  (explanation  of  the  law), 
which  the  Magid  was  used  to  say  every  morning 
after  the  service.  There  was  no  comfortable  dwell- 
ing, no  richly  furnished  rooms,  no  elegant  furniture ; 
through  the  dark  vaults  of  an  unclean  entrance  I 
was  led  to  a  kind  of  a  cellar,  the  study  chamber  of 
the  Magid.  The  black  walls  were  all  covered  with 
shelves,  filled  with  a  costly  and  large  library ;  an  old 
couch  standing  in  a  corner  was  the  resting  place  of 
the  pious  man ;  an  old  oak  table  and  a  few  second- 
hand wooden  chairs  were  all  the  furniture  of  this 
chamber.  He  offered  me  a  chair  and  a  place  at  the 
table,  and  having  made  Kiddush,  he  treated  his  guests 
with  some  spicy  and  witty  explanations  of  the  Sid- 
rah.*^  Having  remarked  to  me  that  he  would  preach 
as  usual  in  the  afternoon  at  half-past  three  o'clock, 
he  was  pleased  with  the  promise  of  my  attendance 
and  dismissed  me  in  a  friendly,  patriarchial  manner. 

How  lively  the  streets  were  when  we  left  the 
Magid' s  house !  Men  and  women,  dressed  in  costly 
Sabbath  attire,  returned  in  large  crowds  from  the 
different  synagogues.  The  servants,  handsome  black- 
eyed  girls,  were  seen  running  to  and  fro  carrying 
the  Sabbath  meals  and  engaged  in  lively  conversa- 
tion. The  fine  turbans  over  their  raven-black  tresses, 
their  eyes  beaming  with  joy  and  satisfaction,  it  ap- 
peared as  if  the  handsome  youth  of  Vilna  would 
now  take  possession  of  the  city.  But  also  this  pic- 
ture soon  vanished  and  the  streets  again  became 
quiet  and  still. 

After  the  meal  the  men  slept.  I  perceived  at  the 
windows  old  grandmothers  in  the  circle  of  the  ladies 

"The  Pentateuchal  section  of  the  week. 

277 


MAX  LIL,II;NTHAL. 

of  their  family  reading  with  tears  and  devotion  the 
Zeenah-Urcnah'^^^  or  some  other  work  of  this  stamp, 
to  which  the  daughters  hstened  attentively  and  showed 
much  interest  in  a  story  they  had  heard  already 
twenty  times  before.  At  another  window  I  saw 
fathers  with  their  young  children  examining  them 
in  the  lessons  of  the  past  week  and  rewarding  with 
apples  and  candies  those  with  whom  they  seemed 
satisfied.  The  little  boys  in  their  small  Schuhetse, 
their  fur  caps  and  their  long  curly  Peos  seemed  as 
happy  as  kings,  and  when  the  Melammed*'^  recom- 
mended one  of  them  as  likely  to  become  a  "light  in 
Israel"  the  young  scholar  walked  away  proudly  and 
with  a  dignified  earnestness  and  manliness  quite  un- 
known to  the  Jewish  youth  of  Germany. 

XXIII. 

At  half -past  three  in  the  afternoon  I  hurried  into 
the  large  synagogue  which  I  had  visited  in  the  morn- 
ing, in  order  to  be  present  at  the  sermon  of  the 
friendly  Magid.  I  found  there  an  immense  gather- 
ing. All  classes,  from  the  rich  merchant  to  the  poor 
woodcutter,  were  fairly  represented,  and  all  of  them 
seemed  versed  enough  in  Talmudical  knowledge  to 
understand  the  very  clever  and  ingenious  explana- 
tions of  the  pious  preacher.  The  sermon  lasted  a 
full  hour,  and  I  was  informed  that  in  all  the  one 
hundred  synagogues  of  Vilna  at  the  same  hour,  ap- 
pointed Magidim  preached  before  numerous  audi- 
ences, the  Derashah  being  a  true  relish  for  the  Jews 
after  their  tiresome  exertions  of  the  whole  week. 


*^  A  volume  containing  many  legends  and  stories ;  the  fa- 
vorite book  of  devotion  of  Jewish  women  in  earlier  days. 
^  Teacher. 

278 


I 


MY   TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

After  Minchah^''  prayer  the  whole  Jewish  popula- 
tion went  out  walking  till  sunset.  Out  of  all  the 
synagogues  the  noisy  multitude,  men  and  women, 
boys  and  girls,  strolled  into  the  outskirts  and  the 
fields  bordering  on  the  city.  It  is  the  only  time  dur- 
ing the  whole  week  that  Jews  allow  themselves  some 
recreation.  On  weekdays  everyone  being  engaged  in 
the  different  pursuits  for  making  a  living,  he  finds 
no  leisure  and  would  consider  it  a  sinful  loss  of  time 
to  take  a  walk ;  but  on  Sabbath  after  Minchah  al- 
most everyone  enjoys  the  refreshing  balm  of  the 
beautiful  meadows,  though  the  Russian  Jew  is  no 
admirer  of  nature's  beautiful  scenery.  I  mingled 
with  the  crowd  in  order  to  witness  this  amusing 
spectacle.  I  admired  the  exceedingly  handsome  girls 
accompanying  their  parents,  and  willingly  acknowl- 
edged the  truth  of  the  report  of  all  travelers  in  Rus- 
sia, that  the  Russian  and  Polish  Jewesses  may  fairly 
be  numbered  amongst  the  handsomest  of  women. 
Certainly  they  are  not  possessed  of  that  charming 
grace  and  refined  polish  which  education  adds  to 
natural  beauty ;  but  nature  has  favored  them  with 
all  charms  that  may  be  called  attractive.  A  fair 
teint,  raven-black  eyes  and  hair,  a  Juno-like  figure, 
small  hands  and  feet,  ivory  teeth,  a  fiery  temper 
and  great  mental  endowments  distinguish  the  Jew- 
ish women  in  Russia.  One  of  the  beauties  of  the 
age  was  Mrs.  Rafaelowitch  in  Mogilef  Podlisk ! 
Nicholas  when  seeing  her  exclaimed,  "Eto  Cracawe- 
za,  that  is  a  beauty,  indeed."  The  fairest  among  the 
fair  ones  I  had  the  pleasure  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  in  Russia  were  Miss  Taube  Rosenthal,  Miss 
Jock,  Miss  Klaczko  in  Vilna  and  Mrs.  Bernstein  in 

*'  Afternoon  service. 

279 


MAX  UUKNTHAI,. 

Odessa.  King  Louis  of  Bavaria,  a  good  judge  of 
woman's  beauty,  would  certainly  have  added  their 
pictures  to  the  gallery  of  beauties  which  he  had 
gathered  in  his  royal  mansion  in  Munich.  They 
were  a  true  personification  of  the  sweet  Sulamith, 
whom  King  Solomon  describes  in  his  Song  of  Songs. 
The  Russian  women  in  general  being  very  ugly,  the 
Jewish   women    form   a   highly    favorable   contrast. 

But  the  stars  began  to  twinkle  on  the  bright  hori- 
zon. "The  Sabbath  is  out"  was  the  universal  re- 
mark, and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  afterwards  Vilna 
had  put  off  its  festival  attire,  and  care  and  trouble 
and  anxiety  took  hold  again  of  every  mind  and  every 
heart.  The  stores  were  opened,  and  the  women 
tended  to  their  business ;  the  men  ran  to  and  fro 
again  in  the  dark  and  deep  night  in  order  to  con- 
tinue and  to  conclude  the  business  left  unfinished 
on  Friday ;  the  boys  even  had  to  study  their  lessons, 
and  in  all  the  JeshibotJi'^^  and  Bothe  Midrasliim*^ 
the  old  study  was  resumed  with  renewed  zeal  and 
ardor. 

The  trustees  of  the  congregation  being  rather  slow 
in  the  consideration  of  the  important  subject  I  had 
laid  before  them,  I  employed  my  leisure  time  in 
making  myself  better  acquainted  with  the  life  of  my 
Russian  coreligionists.  Having  been  informed  that 
one  of  the  Magidim  had  lectured  in  my  favor  on 
Saturday  afternoon  in  one  of  the  synagogues,  having 
recommended  my  mission  in  the  most  impressive 
terms  to  his  hearers,  I  hastened  to  pay  him  my  visit 

and   to   thank   him    for   his   courtesy.     Rabbi   R 

was  considered  one  of  the  greatest  Lamdanim  and 

**  Academies. 

^'  Houses  of  study. 

280 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

Magidim  in  Vilna,  a  man  of  unusual  mildness  of 
character,  of  indubitable  piety  and  disinterestness. 
After  some  inquiry  I  found  the  house  where  the 
rabbi  lived.  I  had  to  stoop  down  in  a  miserable 
cellar,  and  was  horror-struck  when  I  entered  it.  In 
such  an  abode  of  misery  and  poverty  such  eminence 
and  learning,  such  a  character  of  true  piety!  A 
damp  and  moist  atmosphere,  humid,  cold  and  gloomy 
walls,  a  long  shelf  filled  with  Hebrew  books,  an  old 
table  with  two  common  wooden  chairs — that  was  the 
study  of  the  old  rabbi,  that  the  room  in  which  he 
passed  day  and  night  in  reading  the  Scriptures  and 
the  Talmud.  He  welcomed  me,  and  inviting  me  to 
take  a  seat  at  the  table  covered  with  a  heap  of 
Hebrew  books  I  could  hardly  forbear  weeping  when 
I  sat  down  and  looked  into  the  glorified  face  of  the 
holy  man.  While  engaged  in  lively  conversation  a 
water  carrier  very  poorly  dressed  entered  the  room, 
and  putting  down  a  large  pail  of  fresh  water,  he 
said :  "Good  morning,  rabbi ;  here  is  your  water," 
and  kissing  with  sincere  devotion  the  Mesuzah  he 
immediately  left  the  room.  "Who  is  that  man?"  I 
asked  the  rabbi.  "He  is  one  of  the  thousand  good 
men  in  this  city,"  he  answered,  "who  make  a  scanty 
living  by  carrying  water.  He  is  something  of  a 
Lamdan  too,  and  knowing  that  I  am  poor  and  unable 
to  pay  a  water  carrier  he  brings  me  every  morning 
my  water  for  nothing,  firmly  convinced  that  Shinmsli 
Talmide  Chac}iamim^°  is  a  great  virtue.  You  can 
find  him  every  evening  in  the  Beth  Hamidrash,  where 
after  having  provided  scantily  for  the  wants  of  his 
family  he  listens  to  a  lecture  on  Midrash."  "Is  the 
number  of  paupers  very  large  in  your  city?"     "Oh, 

°°  The  service  of  the  learned. 

281 


MAX  LILIUNTHAI,. 

my  dear  friend,  you  have  no  idea  of  how  poorly 
our  brethren  are  Hving!  There  are  a  great  many 
who  Hve  the  whole  week  on  bread,  potatoes  and 
some  tea.  The  wealthier  ones  bake  every  Friday  a 
number  of  small  loaves,  which  they  distribute  among 
the  indigent,  in  order  that  they,  too,  may  be  enabled 
to  celebrate  the  Sabbath!"  I  kept  silent,  for  such 
poverty,  such  depressing  misery  is  unknown  amongst 
our  brethren  in  western  Europe,  and  my  heart  bled 
when  the  idea  suggested  itself  to  my  mind  that  the 
rabbi  himself  perhaps  was  living  such  a  life  of 
agony.  Therefore,  while  engaging  him  in  some  Tal- 
mudical  debate,  during  which  he  had  to  go  for 
books,  I  laid  three  rubles  silver  under  one  of  the 
open  Gcmaras,^'^  that  he  might  find  them  after  my 
leaving  his  house,  for  I  had  not  the  courage  to  offer 
him  alms.  But  what  was  my  astonishment  the  next 
day  when  the  rabbi  called  at  my  house  with  the  in- 
tention of  handing  me  back  the  three  rubles  silver, 
though,  as  he  very  reluctantly  confessed,  he  was 
very  poor,  yet  he  was  not  used  to  accept  alms.  I 
assured  him  that  I  did  not  know  anything  of  the 
money ;  that  I  had  not  laid  it  under  the  book,  where 
he  had  found  it ;  that  it  was  not  mine,  and  that  I 
could  not  accept  it.  Tears  trickled  down  his  pale 
cheeks  when  he  put  the  money  back  into  his  pocket, 
and  with  fervent  blessing  he  left  my  room  deeply 
affected. 

XXIV. 

On  Monday  morning  I  received  an  order  from 
the  department  of  public  instruction,  signed  by  the 
director,    Prince   Shirinski   Schichmatoff,   to   visit   all 

°'  Another  name  for  the  Talmud. 

282 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

the  Hebrew  schools  in  Vilna,  and  to  report  thereon 
after  my  return  to  Riga.  I  informed  the  Parnass 
of  this  ministerial  order,  and  wished  him  to  fix  a 
day  for  my  visit.  He  appointed  Thursday,  and 
when  I  expressed  to  some  of  my  friends  my  aston- 
ishment at  this  unnecessary  delay,  I  was  informed 
that  an  order  from  headquarters  had  been  issued  by 
the  Parnass  to  all  the  rabbis  to  send  their  pupils 
to  the  public  baths  to  be  cleaned  in  order  that  I 
might  not  be  disgusted  with  the  usual  aspect  and 
might  be  enabled  to  make  a  favorable  report  to  the 
department. 

On  Thursday  morning  after  divine  service  a  com- 
mittee, including  the  Parnass,  called  on  me  to  accom- 
pany me  to  the  different  schools.  I  told  them  that 
I  wished  to  begin  with  the  lower  ones,  and  to  finish 
my  official  visit  in  the  highest  ones.  They  brought 
me,  therefore,  to  some  Dardeke  Chedarim.  These 
were  long,  spacious  square  rooms  on  the  first  floor, 
whose  ceilings  were  not  very  high,  whose  walls  were 
more  black  than  white.  Long  tables  were  standing 
along  the  walls,  surrounded  by  very  common  benches 
upon  which  sat  the  poor  children,  sometimes  num- 
bering one  hundred  and  more.  The  number  of 
teachers,  with  hungry,  emaciated  faces,  amounted  to 
four  or  five.  All  were  teaching  at  once,  so  that  the 
noise  and  confusion  made  by  teachers  and  pupils 
were  insufferable.  At  a  table  in  the  midst  of  the 
room  sat  the  principal,  and  the  rod — the  supreme 
ruler  of  this  little  empire — was  lying  by  his  side. 
The  air  we  inhaled  when  entering  the  room  was 
damp,  warm  and  unhealthy,  and  I  pitied  the  little 
creatures  who  were  forced  to  pass  the  gay  and  joy- 
ful days  of  childhood  in  such  an  abode.     The  teach- 

283 


MAX  LIUENTIIAL. 

ers,  having  been  informed  of  my  visit,  were  dressed 
in  their  Sabbath  attire.  After  they  had  greeted  me 
with  the  usual  Shalom  Alechcm,  I  began  to  inquire 
concerning  the  subjects  of  tuition.  I  was  told  that 
the  children  begin  to  learn  here  the  reading  of  the 
prayers  and  some  Chumesh;'^-  that  they  visit  the 
school  daily  from  nine  to  one  and  from  three  to  six 
o'clock ;  that  those  learning  Chumesh  have  to  trans- 
late some  chapters  of  the  Law  read  on  the  next 
Sabbath ;  that  the  punishment  consists  in  the  use  of 
the  rod,  and  someone  of  the  friends  accompanying 
me  remarked  that  in  some  of  these  Chedarim  it  is 
customary  to  give  the  boys  some  lashes  on  Friday 
afternoon  before  being  dismissed  on  account  of  the 
mischief  they  will  commit  on  the  Sabbath.  The 
school  money  paid  to  teachers  varies  according  to 
the  dififerent  subjects  the  child  is  taught,  the  quali- 
ties of  the  teacher  and  the  financial  circumstances  of 
the  parents.  And  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  even 
the  poorest  class  make  any  sacrifice  by  pawning  even 
the  trifles  they  possess  to  raise  the  required  money. 
For  even  the  poorest  Polish  or  Russian  Jew  can  not 
conceive  the  idea  of  raising  his  children  without 
giving  them  some  religious  instruction.  It  being 
still  considered  the  greatest  honor  and  distinction  to 
be  a  renowned  Talmudist,  every  father  aspires  to 
that  glory  which  is  closed  to  nobody.  Therefore  in 
these  Chedarim  children  are  found  of  all  classes,  the 
rich  as  well  as  the  poor,  and  the  old  Talmudical 
proverb,  "Mind  the  children  of  the  poor,  for  the 
Law  comes  forth  from  them,"  holds  full  sway  in 
Russia. 

After   having   examined   some   of   those   schools — 

''  Pentateuch. 

284 


MY    TRAVE;lS    in    RUSSIA. 

all  of  which  are  conducted  on  the  same  system — 
we  went  to  the  Yesliibah,  which  is  divided  into  five 
large  rooms,  and  which  numbered  at  the  time  of  my 
visit  over  two  hundred  scholars.  An  old  staircase 
led  us  up  to  the  second  story,  where  the  lower  classes 
were  assembled.  They  are  called  Irbuwia  (mixture), 
and  there  some  Chumesh  and  Gemarah  is  taught. 
The  boys,  when  I  entered  the  room,  were  rocking 
their  bodies  and  Peos  over  their  Gemarahs,  and 
while  continuing  the  peculiar  mode  of  singing  that 
accompanies  the  Talmudical  study,  they  squinted  at 
the  strange  intruder  who  dared  to  disturb  them.  The 
rabbis  were  convened  soon  and  the  principal  greet- 
ing me  with  hypocritical  friendship  expressed  his 
readiness  to  show  me  through  the  different  depart- 
ments of  this  establishment.  He  told  me  that  the 
Yeshibah  had  been  founded  by  the  legacy  of  a  chim- 
ney sweeper,  who,  having  no  children,  bequeathed 
his  all  to  this  holy  institution,  where  yearly  on  the 
anniversary  of  his  death  Kaddish  is  said  for  his  and 
his  pious  wife's  soul  by  one  of  the  orphan  boys  in 
the  school.  Upon  my  inquiry  concerning  the  sub- 
jects of  tuition  he  told  me  that  the  boys  ranging 
from  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age  are  instructed  in 
this  class  in  Chumesh,  but  more  particularly  in 
Gemarah,  and  that  the  Talmudical  chapters  treating 
of  the  civil  law  are  taught,  they  being  the  most  fit- 
ted to  sharpen  the  intellectual  faculties  of  the  young- 
sters. They  visit  the  school  from  morning  till  eight 
and  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  every  Friday 
a  strict  examination  is  held  in  the  lessons  of  the 
week,  so  that  on  Saturday  afternoon,  when  examined 
by  their  parents,  they  may  do  credit  to  the  school 
and  themselves. 

285 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

In  the  next  room  the  study  of  the  Chumesh  is 
already  laid  aside,  and  the  Lcicnen,  the  self -study 
of  certain  lessons  of  the  Talmud,  begins.  The  com- 
mentaries of  Toscphoth,^^  Meharsho^*  and  others  are 
added  to  the  plain  reading  of  the  Talmudical  text, 
and  the  scholar  is  initiated  into  the  labyrinth  of  the 
Pilpul.''^ 

In  the  higher  classes  called  Halacha  Tosephoth  the 
students  are  kept  day  and  night  at  their  folio  vol- 
umes, sometimes  not  undressing  for  a  whole  week 
and  sleeping  only  a  few  hours  on  their  hard  benches. 

This  wliole  system  of  Talmudical  instruction  is 
still  carried  on  with  that  same  intense  religious 
spirit  that  distinguished  it  in  former  times.  Disre- 
garding the  value  of  all  worldly  sciences,  consider- 
ing the  Torah  and  the  numberless  commentators  the 
acme  of  all  human  wisdom,  sincerely  convinced  that 
this  exclusive  study  not  only  beautifies  this  life,  but 
prepares  the  immortal  spirit  for  all  the  blessings  and 
honors  in  store  for  the  Israelite  in  the  future  life ; 
day  and  night,  under  the  greatest  privations,  are  ded- 
icated to  this  study  that  in  their  eyes  outweighs  all 
the  pleasures  and  attractions  of  this  world.  The 
father  believes  that  owing  to  the  eminent  position 
his  son  will  occupy  some  day  as  a  Talmudical 
scholar  a  better  seat  in  Paradise  is  awaiting  him. 
The  mother,  ready  to  bring  every  sacrifice  for  the 
instruction  of  her  darling,  passes  her  days  in  the  sweet 
consolation    that    the    Kaddish    her    pious    son    will 

^  "Additions."  A  commentary  to  the  Talmud  by  cele- 
brated rabbis  of  France  of  the  twelfth  century,  notably 
Rabbenu  Tarn,  Isaac  ben  Meir  and  Solomon  ben  Meir. 

"Samuel  Eliezer  ben  Judah  Edeles  (1555-1631). 

*°  Dialectical  casuistry. 

286 


MY    TRAVE;LS    in    RUSSIA. 

say  for  her  some  time,  will  deliver  her  departed  soul 
from  all  the  pangs  of  Gehinom,^^  and  raise  her  to 
the  highest  degree  of  beatitude.  The  son  spending 
the  best  years  of  his  hopeful  youth  over  the  folio 
volumes,  feels  himself  superior  to  man's  frail  fate, 
and  looks  down  with  pride  and  self-respect  on  the 
insignificant  occupations  of  men  engaged  in  the 
transient  and  perishable  business  of  everyday  life. 
The  whole  nation,  by  this  arduous  study,  feeling 
themselves  still  faithful  to  the  Eternal  One  and 
his  eternal  law,  do  not  mind  the  laws  of  exclusion 
and  the  slights  they  experience  at  every  step.  Their 
books  tell  them  of  a  brilliant  future  that  will  com- 
pensate them  richly  for  all  the  sufiferings  they  are 
enduring.  The  satisfaction  that  the  Talmudical  study 
with  all  its  ingenuity,  acuteness  and  sophistry  affords 
to  the  mind,  besides  the  continual  mental  and  moral 
improvement  is  an  amusement  that  the  Russian  Jew 
prefers  to  all  the  glittering  and  transient  entertain- 
ments  of   the  most   fashionable  circles. 

Here  is  the  yawning  chasm  that  separates  the 
Russian  and  all  the  Oriental  Jews  from  their  west- 
ern brethren!  They  consider  a  German  book  still  a 
^IDS  nS^tD  f"^  they  regard  the  products  of  civilization 
as  incompatible  with  and  dangerous  to  religion,  and 
though  they  sigh  in  their  exclusion  for  redemption 
and  long  for  the  final  fulfilment  of  Messianic 
promises,  they  feel  an  inward  happiness  with  which 
only  religion  and  confidence  in  Divine  Providence 
can  fill  our  hearts  and  our  minds.  We  sons  of 
western  civilization  can  not  comprehend  this  associa- 
tion of  ideas.     We  love,  revere  and  cultivate  science, 

"  Hell. 

"  An  unclean,  forbidden  thing. 

287 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

claim  our  share  in  the  active  drama  of  life,  and  con- 
gratulate ourselves  for  being  allowed  to  participate 
in  the  progress  the  human  race  is  making  in  every 
direction.  They  study  the  Talmud  because  it  is  the 
spirit  and  aim  of  their  life;  not  in  order  to  know 
and  to  use  this  knowledge  for  ulterior  purposes,  but 
because  the  Torah  is  its  sole  object  and  end,  with- 
out any  further  consideration  whatever.  We  study 
the  rabbinical  literature  because  we  wish  to  dig  out 
the  scientific  treasures  hidden  and  unexplained  in 
these  literary  pyramids  of  old;  because  we  intend  to 
use  the  results  of  our  investigation  either  for  the 
consolidation  of  orthodoxy,  or  the  construction  of 
reform,  or  to  add  our  share  to  the  immense  stores 
that  science  is  gathering  from  everywhere.  They 
study  with  their  heart,  with  sincere  love  and  respect 
for  religion ;  we  study  with  our  mind,  coolly  dissect- 
ing the  most  tender  fibres  of  religious  life.  While 
they  feel  blissfully  happy  we  speculate  with  killing 
indifference. 

Oh,  when  will  the  glorious  day  begin  to  dawn  on 
which  science  and  religion,  elevating  mankind  to  its 
destiny,  will  celebrate  their  mutual  reconcilation  ? 

XXV. 

In  the  afternoon  I  visited  the  elementary  school 
established  by  Messrs.  Klatzcko  and  Rosenthal.  What 
a  mighty  contrast  to  the  dark  and  dirty  Chedarim  I 
had  visited  in  the  forenoon !  Large,  clean  and  com- 
modious stairs  led  to  fine  apartments  in  which  some 
eighty  to  ninety  children  were  assembled.  An  efii- 
cient  corps  of  teachers  had  been  appointed,  and 
though  all  of  them  were  Polish  Jews,  I  found  them 

288 


MY   TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

to  be  men  of  thorough  learning,  capable  of  convers- 
ing fluently  and  correctly  in  the  Hebrew,  Russian, 
Polish,  German  and  French  languages.  The  school 
furniture  was  of  the  finest  kind,  the  arrangements 
throughout  all  the  departments  complete,  and  the 
scholars  looked  healthy  and  happy.  With  eyes  full 
of  spirit  and  intelligence  they  greeted  me  smilingly. 
I  examined  the  classes  in  the  different  subjects  of 
instruction,  and  found  them  to  be  far  advanced  in 
Hebrew  grammar,  in  the  translation  of  the  whole 
Bible  and  well  posted  in  the  chapters  of  the  Talmud 
they  had  learned.  They  wrote  German  quite  cor- 
rectly. Some  of  them  had  gone  through  the  elemen- 
tary rules  of  French  grammar,  and  being  at  that 
time  still  unable  to  examine  them  in  their  vernacular, 
I  was  assured  that  the  Russian  and  Polish  languages 
were  quite  familiar  to  them.  The  boys  were  all 
dressed  in  clean,  nice  Schubetze  tied  to  the  vest  with 
fine  silk  girdles,  and  wore  on  their  heads  the  Jarmika, 
the  usual  and  continual  covering  of  the  Polish  Jew. 
The  teachers  were  all  self-made  men.  In  hidden 
nooks,  unobserved  perhaps,  even  by  their  own  wives, 
at  the  late  hour  of  midnight  when  all  were  asleep, 
they  had  to  study  by  themselves  the  primary 
branches  of  the  German  and  French  languages,  and 
by  laborious  self-study  to  acquire  the  knowledge 
through  which  they  became  so  eminently  useful  to 
the  rising  generation.  They  write  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage in  such  a  masterly  style  that  none  of  the  west- 
ern Jews  can  be  compared  with  them  in  this  respect. 
They  invented  quite  a  new  terminology;  and  one  of 
them  had  translated  the  universal  history  of  Politz 
in  such  classical  Hebrew  that  even  the  Polish  Jews 
were    astonished    at    the    unsurpassable    production. 

289 


MAX  LIUIvNTHAI,. 

Words  like  canon,  gunpowder,  steam  engine  and 
thousands  of  others,  for  the  rendering  of  which  the 
Hebrew  language  has  no  expression,  because  all  these 
subjects  were  entirely  unknown  at  the  time  in  which 
the  Hebrew  language  was  flourishing — these  words 
were  rendered  in  the  most  classical  Hebrew,  and  are 
a  living  proof  of  the  linguistic  genius  of  our  breth- 
ren in  the  northern  regions  of  Europe.  Though  be- 
ing strict  orthodox  Jews,  they  are  considered  here- 
tics ;  they  are  called  Berliners  because  they  do  not 
speak  the  miserable,  corrupted  jargon,  but  endeavor 
to  speak  every  language  correctly;  they  are  suspected 
to  be  infested  with  new  ideas,  dangerous  to  the 
old  forms  of  religion ;  and  being  acquainted  with 
^IDS  nSlID,  they  incur  the  suspicion  of  being  the  pio- 
neers of  western  civilization.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  vexations  and  endless  turmoils  and  drudgeries, 
these  men  risked  even  the  existence  and  the  scanty 
support  of  their  families,  unwilling  to  surrender, 
firmly  determined  to  quench  their  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge at  the  pure  fountain  of  modern  science.  They 
related  to  me  the  trials  they  had  to  undergo,  the 
ordeals  they  had  to  submit  to ;  but  the  immortal 
Mendelssohn's  Biur  to  the  Torah  had  taught  them 
other  knowledge  than  the  exclusive  study  of  the  Tal- 
mud, and  no  suffering  could  prevail  on  them  to  re- 
sign the  treasures  they  had  discovered  in  the  classical 
translation  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Psalms  by  the 
philosopher  of  Berlin.  They  were  specimens  of 
thousands  of  martyrs  to  science  and  knowledge ; 
their  history  is  always  the  same,  and  it  is  a  pity  that 
they  did  not  enjoy  a  full  and  regular  education ; 
they  would  have  become  brilliant  stars  on  the  horizon 
of  European  science.     A  few  of  them  who  escaped 

290 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

from  the  iron  grasp  of  Russia  and  the  blind  perse- 
cution of  reHgious  fanaticism  and  pursued  a  regular 
course  of  studies  at  German  universities  gained  high 
rank  in  the  learned  world.  Solomon  Maimon,  the 
Russian  Jew,  who  late  in  life  visited  Konigsberg,  so 
excelled  in  philosophy  that  Kant,  whose  lectures  he 
attended,  declared  him  to  be  the  only  one  who  fully 
understood  his  system.  Dr.  Valentine,  now  Profes- 
sor of  Medicine  in  Ziirich,  and  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent physiologists  of  our  age,  is  one  of  those  Bachu- 
rim,^^  who  at  eighteen  years  of  age  could  not  read 
German;  and  nevertheless,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
having  finished  his  course  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
he  won  the  medical  prize  offered  by  the  Academy 
of  France.  Ben  Jacob  of  Vilna,  the  editor  of  some 
very  valuable  books;  Senior  Sachs  of  Zhagory,  the 
editor  of  the  now  classical  Kerem  Chemed;  Edel- 
man,  the  editor  of  some  remarkable  manuscripts  of 
the  library  of  Oxford;  the  renowned  mathematicians 
and  astronomers  Stern  and  Slominsky,  are  but  a  few 
examples  of  those  highly  gifted  men  amongst  our 
Russian  brethren  who,  with  proper  training,  would 
astonish  the  world  by  their  discoveries  and  investi- 
gations. Certainly,  we  sons  of  western  European 
civilization  can  not  comprehend  how  the  study  of 
science  can  be  considered  heresy  and  a  sin  commit- 
ted against  religion ;  but  a  century  ago  the  same  sen- 
timent prevailed  in  all  the  German  Jeshiboth. 

The  principals  of  these  two  schools,  Messrs. 
Klatczko  and  Rosenthal,  the  teachers  and  the  pupils 
therefore  felt  really  happy  and  satisfied  that  at  last 
the  hour  had  come  in  which  their  struggles  and  en- 
deavors  were  appreciated.     But  not  only   for  them- 

"  Talmudical  students. 

291 


MAX  LILlENTHAIv. 

selves,  but  also  for  the  large  mass  of  their  brethren 
they  felt  pleased  that  a  better  scientific  morning  was 
dawning,  and  they  assured  me,  and  were  entirely 
right,  that  if  the  Russian  Jew,  highly  gifted  as  he 
was,  would  begin  the  study  of  modern  sciences,  he 
would  call  forth  an  epoch  of  learned  progress  un- 
paralleled in  the  history  of  modern  science  and  lit- 
erature. Listening  to  these  words  of  the  preachers 
in  the  wilderness,  I  was  struck  with  the  irresistible 
power  of  the  progress  of  the  human  race.  I  was 
convinced  that  a  better  time  was  coming  for  them, 
too,  and  that  the  name  of  the  Polish  Jew,  so  bitterly 
despised  and  contemned,  was  to  shine  forth  in  un- 
expected glory  and  brilliancy. 

In  the  evening  I  went  to  visit  another  kind  of 
schools  not  established  for  the  youngsters,  but  for 
the  continuous  instruction  of  the  grown  men,  viz., 
the  Bothe  MidrasJiim.  What  an  immense  difference ! 
There  I  was  again  removed  to  far  distant  centuries 
with  the  old  notions,  old  feelings,  old  conceptions. 
There  I  found  the  old,  really  old,  Jew  again,  with 
his  ineffable  respect  for  the  Torah,  with  his  unfath- 
omable love  for  its  study,  entirely  absorbed  in  the 
maze  of  the  Talmudical  labyrinth,  and  entirely  for- 
getting the  world  around  him.  In  these  Bothe  Mid- 
rasJiim every  morning  after  the  service  several 
Shiiir''^  by  competent  Lamandini  are  read ;  first  a  Shiur 
on  the  Code  of  the  Joreh  Deah,  which  is  attended 
by  bankers,  merchants  and  the  scholars  par  excel- 
lence; then  comes  the  Shiur  of  the  Talmud,  which 
is  mostly  visited  by  the  Lamdanim,  who,  diving 
into  the  depth  of  the  witty  Pilpitl,  spend  the  whole 
forenoon    at    their    large    Talmudical    volumes ;    and 

'^  Reading  with  explanation. 

292 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

in  the  evening  after  prayer  a  Shiur  is  read  on  the 
Midrashim,  which  being  attractive,  easy  and  instruc- 
tive at  once,  is  visited  by  all  the  poor,  who,  being 
engaged  the  whole  day  in  their  different  business  oc- 
cupations, hurry  in  the  evening  into  the  Beth  Hami- 
drash,  to  listen  to  these  instructive  lectures.  Here 
they  find  the  inward  satisfaction  that  having  studied 
the  law  they  have  fulfilled  a  religious  duty;  here 
they  find  comfort  and  consolation,  for  the  law 
teaches  them  the  vanity  of  all  earthly  treasures,  and 
the  rich  blessings  in  store  for  them  in  the  future  life ; 
here  they  forget  the  sorrowful  exclusion  from  the 
enjoyment  of  all  rights  and  privileges,  for  the  law 
teaches  them  that  the  Jew  is  a  member  of  the  chosen 
people,  that  before  God  there  exists  no  privilege,  no 
favor,  no  exclusion. 

The  poor  are  taught  to  submit  patiently  to  the 
inscrutable  wisdom  of  an  all-kind  Providence,  and 
truly  with  heavenly  resignation  they  bear  the  utmost 
privations,  the  most  incredible  sufferings.  The  rich 
are  taught  that  the  innumerable  blessings  bestowed 
upon  them  by  the  same  Providence  are  but  entrusted 
to  them  in  order  to  alleviate  the  poverty  and  to  sup- 
ply the  wants  of  the  indigent,  and  truly  charity  is 
practiced  by  the  wealthy  Jew  in  Russia  with  the 
conviction  that  he  fulfils  a  duty  to  his  God.  It  is 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  both  that  virtue  and 
righteousness  have  to  be  practiced  under  any  and  all 
circumstances ;  and  notwithstanding  all  the  usual 
slanders  against  the  character  of  the  Polish  Jew,  it 
must  be  universally  acknowledged  that  religion,  be- 
nevolence, charity,  learning  and  education  are  the 
glorious  results  of  these  obsolete  and  antiquated 
Botlie  Midrashim. 

293 


MAX  UUENTHAI,. 

Their  time  is  past ;  their  fate  is  sealed.  Even  if 
the  Russian  government  would  not  close  them,  sub- 
stituting in  their  place  elementary  and  higher  schools, 
they  soon  would  disappear  of  themselves,  giving  way 
to  the  improved  institutions  of  our  age. 

XXVI. 

After  having  passed  the  whole  day  examining  the 
schools,  I  received  in  the  evening  an  invitation  from 
the  Stadt-Magid  (chief  preacher)  of  the  city  to  visit 
him  at  ten  o'clock  the  same  evening.  The  late  hour 
of  the  appointment  indicated  to  me  that  the  rabbi 
wished  to  know  the  result  of  the  examination  in  or- 
der to  prevent  me  from  making  to  the  government 
a  one-sided  or  too  hasty  report.  I  repaired  to  his 
humble  rooms  at  the  fixed  time.  He  received  me 
very  kindly,  and  after  having  entertained  me  for 
about  half  an  hour  with  some  Torah,  brandy  and 
cakes,  he  left  the  room,  inquiring  whether  all  his 
housemates  were  already  asleep.  Being  assured  that 
he  was  safe  from  all  listeners,  he  took  his  seat  at 
the  oak  table  opposite  my  chair,  and  in  a  low  voice 
began  to  ask  me : 

"Well,  doctor,  you  are  firmly  resolved  upon  intro- 
ducing a  change  in  our  school  system?" 

"It  is  the  will  of  the  emperor  and  the  order  of  the 
government,  rabbi." 

"Are  you  also  aware  of  all  the  consequences  that 
this  change  will  efifect  in  our  religious  views?" 

"You  see  specters,  rabbi,  where  there  are  none.  I 
come  from  Germany  where  no  one  dreams  any  more 
of  such  an  opposition  as  the  Russian  Jews  make  to 
the    establishment    of    better    schools ;    and    having 

294 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

quenched  our  thirst  at  the  fountain  of  universal  sci- 
ence and  knowledge,  we  feel  ourselves  as  good  Jews 
as  you  do  who  are  still  frightened  at  the  aspect  of  a 

^IDS  nsnta." 

"You  must  not  suppose,  doctor,  that  I  am  entirely 
opposed  to  the  introduction  of  your  sciences.  I  have 
studied  too  frequently  the  immortal  works  of  Mai- 
monides,  Ibn  Esra  and  their  successors  not  to  be 
impressed  with  the  importance,  usefulness  and  neces- 
sity of  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  profane  literature; 
yea,  the  Talmud  itself  recommends  it  highly  unto  us, 
and  you  know  that  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrin 
must  be  well  versed  even  in  seventy  languages.  But 
we  are  informed  by  our  merchants  visiting  the  large 
fair  at  Leipsic  that  your  brethren  in  Germany  deal 
very  slightly  with  religion,  and  that  the  religious 
commands  are  not  as  strictly  observed  as  in  this 
country." 

"Rabbi,  for  all  that  we  have  not  as  many  con- 
verted Jews  as  there  are  in  this  country.  Besides, 
I  have  already  heard  that  if  a  Polish  Jew  puts  off 
his  Schuhetse,  he  treats  religion  with  more  disdain 
and  disregard  than  is  customary  in  Germany.  But 
both  our  arguments  lack  a  solid  foundation;  there 
are  good  and  bad  men  amongst  every  nation,  in  every 
climate  and  under  all  circumstances.  But  granted 
even  that  the  reform  begun  in  Germany  by  the  great 
Mendelssohn  has  led  to  some  lamentable  extremes, 
the  false  steps  taken  in  the  beginning  have  been 
remedied  long  ago,  and  you  may  profit  by  our  experi- 
ence to  avoid  all  injurious  extravagances." 

"Doctor,  I  will  tell  you ;  we  are  ashes,  all  ashes ; 
and  as  soon  as  anyone  touches  us,  the  whole  edifice 
will  crumble  to  pieces!" 

295 


MAX  LIIvlBNTHAL. 

He  looked  uneasily  about  after  having  uttered  that 
gloomy  sentence,  whilst  I  stared  in  his  face  at  this 
bold  and  thoughtful  expression. 

"You  are  wrong,  rabbi,  entirely  wrong,"  I  con- 
tinued, interrupting  the  uncomfortable  silence.  "Our 
religion  is  not  ashes ;  you  confound  the  eternal  truth 
contained  in  our  doctrines  with  outworn  and  anti- 
quated ceremonies.  They,  indeed,  are  ashes,  and 
whether  we  touch  them  or  not,  time  will  destroy 
them,  as  in  western  Europe  it  has  already  destroyed 
a  great  deal  of  them.  Put  those  ashes  away,  and 
the  jewel  of  our  creed  shall  shine  forth  in  all  its 
brilliancy.  We  and  all  mankind  will  be  benefited  by 
the  removal  of  these  your  ashes." 

"But  the  whole  mass  of  the  people  will  not  know 
how  to  discern  between  the  ashes  and  the  jewel,  dear 
doctor.  If  you  remove  the  ashes  they  will  throw 
away  the  jewel,  and  then  what  will  become  of  our 
creed  for  which  our  ancestors  have  suffered  so  much, 
for  which  we  ourselves  undergo  such  endless  tor- 
tures, such  awful  agonies?  It  will  be  surrendered 
in  course  of  time,  and  will  you  be  the  instrument 
for  such  a  calamitous  and  sinful  destruction? 

"My  dear  rabbi,  I  have  too  high  an  idea  of  the 
eternal  truth  of  our  creed  to  be  in  the  least  afraid 
of  such  gloomy  consequences.  Our  creed  and  our 
people  have  outlived  and  outlasted  quite  other  periods 
than  that  of  a  desirable  reconciliation  with  the  ad- 
vancement and  enlightenment  of  our  age.  I,  on  my 
part,  consider  it  a  sin  to  believe  and  to  assert  that 
our  creed  is  not  compatible  with  science  and  knowl- 
edge itself  ;  its  principles  are  light  and  nothing  but 
undimmed  light ;  its  doctrines  are  true  and  eternal 
as  God  is;  how  can  you  suppose  for  a  moment  that 

296 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

by  the  reconciliation  with  the  irrefutable  demands  of 
our  age  the  existence  of  our  sacred  creed  will  be 
endangered?  Your  Polish  rabbis  excommunicated  the 
immortal  Mendelssohn,  when  first  he  published  his 
German  translation  of  the  Pentateuch;  you  cried 
"Murder!"  when  the  pious  reformer  began  the  im- 
mense task  of  introducing  his  isolated  brethren  into 
the  active  arena  of  life;  could  you  stop  the  onward 
march  of  the  bold  reformer?  Could  you  bring  back 
our  brethren  in  western  Europe  to  the  spirit  of  big- 
otry, darkness  and  isolation  which  you  considered 
the  only  safegtiard  of  our  creed?  His  name  stands 
in  bold  relief  before  posterity,  and  the  names  of  all 
these  Jewish  inquisitors  are  forgotten.  Are  you  re- 
solved upon  repeating  the  same  fruitless  transaction? 

The  rabbi  sighed  and  kept  silent  for  some  time, 
absorbed  in  deep  meditation.  "But  his  pupils,"  he 
continued,  "have  become  apostates  to  our  creed.  Some 
members  of  his  own  family,  I  have  been  told,  have 
become  converts  to  Christianity.  If  apostacy  should 
be  the  consequence  of  your  proposed  reform  I,  in 
the  name  of  all  my  Jewish  brethren,  protest  against 
it,  and  prefer  our  isolated  position  to  all  the  allure- 
ments of  civilization." 

"Rabbi,  you  again  confound  the  levity  and  friv- 
olity of  a  few  with  the  good  and  importance  of  the 
cause.  The  mischief,  committed  at  the  first  outburst 
of  inexperienced  and  unbridled  wantonness  and  pre- 
sumptuousness  has  been  remedied  in  Germany  long 
ago.  A  sincere  attachment  to  the  creed  of  our  an- 
cestors, a  profound  knowledge  of  science  and  the 
arts ;  a  readiness  to  support  every  good  institution, 
unbounded  and  unexampled  charity,  the  dear  heir- 
loom of  Israel,  are  the  principal  virtues  marking  our 

297 


MAX  LILIENTHAL,. 

brethren  at  present,  and  there  is  not  the  least  appre- 
hension that  the  old  blunders  will  be  committed  again 
and  again !  And  the  schools  we  are  proposing  are 
the  medium  by  which  our  brethren  in  Russia  will 
avoid  the  reproaches  you  are  making  to  Mendels- 
sohn's school.  Draw  up  a  perfect  plan  for  the  pro- 
posed schools  we  intend  to  establish ;  appoint  such 
teachers  in  whose  religious  views  you  can  put  im- 
plicit confidence;  impress  upon  the  susceptible  mind 
of  the  young  the  doctrines  of  our  faith,  and  you 
may  instruct  them  afterwards  in  any  science  you 
please — there  will  be  no  danger  to  the  religion.  And 
if  men  of  your  stamp  would  take  the  subject  of  re- 
form into  your  own  hands,  men  whose  orthodoxy  no 
one  dares  to  doubt,  men  whose  profound  Talmudical 
learning  fits  them  for  this  responsible  and  enormous 
task,  the  people,  fully  confiding  in  your  integrity, 
will  gladly  abide  by  your  decisions.  You  will  lay 
the  cornerstone  for  the  glorious  edifice  that  the  fu- 
ture generations  will  erect.  While  your  present  sys- 
tem is  unable  to  stop  the  wheels  of  human  progress, 
the  course  I  propose  to  you  will  enable  you  to  direct 
its  motions  and  become  the  benefactors  of  your  peo- 
ple." 

The  clock  struck  midnight.  The  rabbi  rose  from 
his  seat.  "He  sleeps  not  and  slumbers  not,  the  Guar- 
dian of  Israel,"  he  said.  "Into  His  hands  I  con- 
fide the  future  of  my  brethren.  He  knows  best  how 
to  accomplish  His  end."  And  shaking  my  hand 
heartily  he  bade  me  good-night. 

When  I  came  home  I  was  informed  that  the  di- 
rector of  the  gymnasium,  Mr.  O ,  had  been  there 

to  visit  me  and  to  invite  me  to  a  theatrical  perform- 
ance to  be  given  the  next  evening  at  his  mansion  by 

298 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

Jewish  children.  Jewish  children  playing  Russian 
and  German  pieces  and  my  conversation  with  the 
rabbi — what  a  contrast !  Here  the  decaying,  dis- 
mayed past,  there  the  promising,  exuberant  future ! 
Here  cautious,  experienced  old  age,  there  rash  and 
care-free  youth !  Here  the  earnestness  and  awe  of 
religion,  there  the  magic  power  of  life  and  its  mani- 
fold enjoyments.  Truly  Napoleon  was  right  when 
he  observed:     "Les  extremes  se  touchent!" 

xxvn. 

The  next  evening  I  found  in  the  salons  of  the  di- 
rector of  the  college  the  most  select  company  of 
Vilna.  Governor-General  Mirkowitsh  with  his  lady, 
the  civil  governor  with  his  suite,  and  a  host  of  the 
highest  officers  were  assembled  to  witness  the  per- 
formance of  the  Jewish  boys.  The  first  compliments 
having  been  exchanged,  the  director  invited  his  guests 
into  one  of  his  salons,  where  the  stage  had  been 
erected.  The  curtain  rose.  The  boys,  dressed  in  full 
costume,  played  one  of  the  favorite  patriotic  pieces 
in  the  Russian  language  to  the  unbounded  satisfac- 
tion of  the  audience,  which  was  quite  astonished  at 
the  miracle  the  director  had  wrought  with  these  boys. 
I  myself,  though  pleased  with  the  applause  of  the 
guests,  did  not  feel  amazed,  being  convinced  that  the 
highly  gifted  Russian  Jew,  if  properly  trained,  would 
surely  surpass  all  the  expectations  of  his  warmest 
friends.  But  the  intermezzo  that  followed  elicited 
even  my  applause.  Three  boys,  twelve  to  thirteen 
years  of  age,  and  chimney  sweepers  by  occupation, 
performed  gymnastic  exercises  of  the  most  perilous 
and  hazardous   kind.     The  officers   of   the  garrison 

299 


MAX  LILlENTHAIv. 

were  quite  bewildered  when  they  witnessed  the  phys- 
ical strength,  flexibility  and  suppleness  of  these 
youngsters.  Being  well  aware  that  the  Jews  in  Rus- 
sia never  practice  gymnastics,  since  they  are  afraid  of 
the  peril  accompanying  the  beginning  of  the  exercises, 
they  could  not  understand  how  and  in  what  length 
of  time  the  director  had  made  them  such  perfect 
masters.  When  the  curtain  fell  the  director,  upon 
receiving  the  congratulations  of  the  governor-gen- 
eral for  the  success  which  had  crowned  his  efforts 
with  these  boys,  remarked  smilingly  that  he  was  not 
deserving  in  the  least  of  these  flattering  expressions, 
as  the  boys  had  seen  these  gymnastic  exercises  per- 
formed by  an  excellent  band  of  traveling  rope  danc- 
ers, had  copied  and  practiced  them  by  themselves,  so 
that  he  had  but  to  wash,  to  clean  and  to  dress  them ; 
therefore  applause  was  owing  entirely  to  the  hazard- 
ous exertions  of  the  boys  themselves.  The  whole 
company  begged  for  a  repetition  of  the  intermezzo ; 
the  curtain  rose,  the  boys  were  called  out  again,  and 
instead  of  repeating  the  old  pieces,  they  always  per- 
formed new  ones.  The  second  part  of  the  perform- 
ance consisted  of  Schiller's  Hiildigung  der  Kuenste, 
which  was  done  admirably  well  by  the  boys  and 
girls  in  the  German  language.  Late  in  the  evening 
when  the  company  had  dispersed,  I  promised  the 
director  to  report  directly  this  highly  creditable  en- 
tertainment to  the  minister,  who  surely  would  feel 
highly  pleased  with  the  interest  the  director  mani- 
fested in  the  improvement  of  the  Jewish  youth.  This 
being  the  aim  of  his  effort,  he,  as  I  had  expected, 
felt  highly  pleased  with  the  terms  in  which  I  eulo- 
gized him;  for  these  subaltern  officers  try  to  win  by 
every  means  the  favor  of  messengers  dispatched  by 

300 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA, 

the  ministers,  knowing  very  well  that  an  extraordi- 
nary recommendation  of  that  kind  sometimes  does 
them  more  good  than  years  of  faithful  but  unpre- 
tending service.  When  returning  to  my  lodgings  I 
thought  of  the  conversation  held  the  previous  mid- 
night with  the  Magid,  who  certainly,  condemning  the 
proceedings  of  the  evening  as  □''IJin  npn,*^°  would 
have  foretold  the  ruin  of  all  the  Jewish  peculiarities. 

Having  been  invited  by  the  lady  of  the  governor- 
general  to  come  and  see  her  the  following  forenoon,  I 
appeared  in  her  drawing  room  in  full  canonicals  at 
eleven  o'clock.  She  was  a  fanatical  member  of  the 
Russian  Church,  and  considered  my  mission  as  highly 
favorable  to  her  proselytizing  schemes.  After  being 
seated,  she  addressed  me  : 

"Doctor,  I  thought  I  saw  an  angel  when  I  met  you 
the  first  time  in  the  governor-general's  room.  What 
glorious  times  will  now  arrive  for  the  chosen  people 
of  God!  How  quickly  will  they  rise,  proving  again 
and  again  that  they  are  the  first-born  sons !  You 
must  really  feel  proud  to  be  so  young  and  to  have 
been  entrusted  by  a  kind  Providence  with  the  holy 
mission  of  the  regeneration  of  your  people!" 

"Your  Excellency,  I  can  but  reply  with  Joseph : 
'Far  from  me,  God  will  answer  for  the  peace  of  my 
people.'  My  efforts  are  so  unimportant,  my  personal 
merits  so  insignificant,  that  I  am  but  a  very  feeble 
instrument  in  the  hand  of  God.  But  the  heart  of 
kings  is  in  the  Lord's  power,  and  if  His  Imperial 
Majesty  will  continue  to  show  favor  and  justice 
unto  my  brethren,  there  certainly  is  not  the  least  ap- 

. .  °"  Chukkat  Hagoyim,  "imitation  of  customs  of  the  Gen- 
tiles". 


301 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

prehension,  but  that  a  better  morning  is  beginning  to 
dawn  for  them." 

"Oh,  doctor,  I  know  it  but  too  well — modesty  is 
one  of  the  capital  virtues  of  religious  reformers. 
But  you  will  not  succeed  by  modesty  alone.  Meek 
as  you  must  be  in  private  intercourse,  kind  as  you 
must  show  yourself  in  your  discourses,  you  require 
indomitable  and  unflinching  courage  to  surmount  the 
inveterate  stifif-neckedness  of  your  brethren." 

"I  respect  this  stiff-neckedness,  Your  Excellency, 
and  it  is  the  subject  of  my  constant  admiration.  The 
fault  with  which  Moses  reproached  the  people  of 
Israel  while  it  adhered  perseveringly  unto  its  idols 
became  one  of  its  national  virtues,  since  it  applied 
it  to  the  upholding  of  the  sublime  doctrine  of  the 
Unity.  Without  this  stiff-neckedness  it  would  have 
succumbed  a  hundred  times  to  the  temptations  and 
persecutions  of  all  nations  and  ages ;  by  it,  it  has 
surmounted  all  the  obstacles  and  impediments.  Being 
still  today  full  of  vigor  and  youthful  power,  it  nat- 
urally expects  the  fulfilment  of  its  divine  prophecies." 

"Prophecies,  doctor?  There  is  but  one  in  which 
all  the  prophetic  mysteries  have  found  and  will  find 
their  solution — it  is  the  redemption  of  the  human 
race  by  our  Savior.  Do  you  not  believe  in  him, 
doctor?" 

"No,  madame.  I  am  born  a  Jew  and  feel  happy 
to  be  a  Jew.  The  purpose  of  my  feeble  endeavors 
is  to  raise  the  Jews  from  their  civil  degradation  to 
fit  them  for  the  higher  services  and  duties  of  useful 
citizens,  to  remove  even  all  the  abuses  that  crept  into 
our  religious  observances  in  the  middle  ages ;  but 
our  religion,  being  of  divine  origin,  can  not  be 
changed,  and  our  brethren  today,  as  in  times  of  yore, 

302 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

are  ready  to  sacrifice  blood  and  treasure  rather  than 
to  yield  to  any  missionary  or  proselytizing  schemes." 

The  lady,  perceiving  that  our  conversation  was 
taking  an  unpleasant  turn,  dropped  the  subject,  and 
after  having  discussed  with  me  in  a  very  spirited 
manner  the  difference  of  the  systems  of  education 
she  dismissed  me,  tendering  me  very  kindly  an  invi- 
tation to  a  teaparty  for  a  future  evening. 

I  was  struck,  whilst  in  the  drawingroom  of  the 
governor's  lady,  with  the  remarkable  and  agreeable 
fact  that  the  Russian  nobility,  though  despising  the 
Jews  and  their  religion,  do  not  dispute  them  the  title 
of  the  chosen  people.  They  acknowledge  wilHngly 
the  merits  of  the  Jewish  revelation,  and  they  even 
feel  proud  if  a  Jewish  convert  intermarries  with 
their  families,  glorying  in  the  fact  that  the  blood  of 
God's  people  is  flowing  in  their  veins  too.  But  Nich- 
olas' gigantic  proselytizing  schemes  had  inspired  them 
all  with  such  a  religious  fanaticism  that  the  bigots 
dreamed  of  nothing  but  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews  to  their  Greek  Church,  whose  final  aim  is  and 
must  be  the  union  of  all  denominations  into  Russian 
idolatry. 

Having  made  an  appointment  with  one  of  my 
friends  to  visit  the  Jewish  cemetery  in  the  afternoon, 
we  hurried  thither.  What  an  immense  space!  What 
a  place  of  awe  and  reverence!  Here  slept  quietly 
the  tired  pilgrims  of  many  centuries,  not  dreaming 
of  the  change  that  was  hovering  over  their  graves. 
Here  rested  the  great  men  renowned  for  their  piety 
and  Talmudical  learning,  the  authorities  for  Jewish 
posterity.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  gravestones 
covered  the  arena  beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye;  and 
even  this  place  of  sacred  rest  had  been  disturbed  by 

303 


MAX  UUE;nTHA1,. 

the  ruthless  hands  of  military  Russian  power!  A 
large  tract  of  the  cemetery  had  been  claimed  by  the 
government  for  the  extension  of  the  fortification  of 
the  city ;  the  stones  had  been  broken  and  demolished, 
the  bones  of  the  disturbed  corpses  removed  into  one 
large  pit,  and  the  work  of  pitiless  destruction  went 
on  without  mercy  and  interruption.  My  companion 
directing  my  attention  to  the  inscription  on  a  grave- 
stone of  a  Ger  Zedek  (pious  proselyte),  told  me  that 
there  rested  the  ashes  of  a  Count  Potocki,  a  Polish 
nobleman,  who  was  burnt  at  the  stake  for  having 
embraced  the  Jewish  religion.  The  count,  being  a 
member  of  one  of  the  first  Polish  noble  families,  was 
bitterly  blamed  by  his  relations  for  his  apostasy; 
every  effort  was  used  to  bring  him  back  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  but  all  en- 
treaties being  frustrated  by  his  perseverance,  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Roman  clergy  that  condemned 
him  to  the  stake.  A  Friday  was  the  day  of  execu- 
tion. When  already  on  the  stake,  the  deacon  once 
more  requested  him  to  save  the  honor  of  his  family 
by  renouncing  Judaism.  The  count  refused  and  was 
burnt  alive.  The  legend  extolling  his  martyrdom  re- 
lates that  a  white  pigeon  started  heavenwards  out  of 
the  flames.  The  Jews  gathered  the  ashes  of  the 
pious  martyr  and  buried  them  among  the  graves  of 
their  holy  rabbis.  A  peculiar  kind  of  flower,  dur- 
ing the  summer,  adorns  the  grave  of  the  Ger  Zedek. 

XXVIII. 

Three  weeks  had  passed  since  I  laid  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction  before 
the  President  and  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Jewish 

304 


MY    TRAVKL,S    IN    RUSSIA. 

congregation  of  Vilna,  but  the  object  of  my  mission 
did  not  seem  to  advance.  Though  I  urged  the  mat- 
ter in  different  ways,  I  received  now  promises,  now 
counter-observations,  all  tending  to  the  one  point,  that 
Vilna,  though  always  ready  to  obey  the  commands 
of  the  government,  was  not  willing  to  take  the  lead 
in  so  grave  a  matter  single  handedly.  I  would  fos- 
ter my  object,  I  was  told,  if  I  could  gain  the  co- 
operation of  another  Jewish  city  of  importance,  and 
some  friends  of  Minsk  having  sent  me  a  hearty  in- 
vitation to  visit  that  city,  I  was  prompted  to  make 
an  excursion  thither.  Having  tried  all  means  to  per- 
suade them  to  the  contrary,  I  consented  to  leave  for 
Minsk  and  to  return  to  Vilna  as  soon  as  I  would 
have  accomplished  my  mission  in  that  place. 

Accompanied  by  the  best  wishes  of  my  friends 
and  the  suspicious  expectations  of  my  clandestine  an- 
tagonists I  took  my  departure,  and  without  any  ex- 
traordinary accident  arrived  safely  in  Minsk.  The 
governor-general  and  the  curator  had  provided  for 
me  the  necessary  passports  and  letters  of  recommen- 
dation, and  with  an  uneasy  heart  I  alighted  at  the 
house  of  one  of  the  Jewish  aristocrats,  where  lodg- 
ings had  been  prepared  for  me. 

Minsk,  in  1841,  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of 
Rabbinism  in  Russia.  The  first  rays  of  civilization 
had  not  yet  begun  to  dawn  upon  this  congregation ; 
whilst  Vilna  numbered  hundreds  of  young  men  well 
versed  in  modern  literature,  and  favoring  a  reform 
of  the  educational  systems,  in  Minsk  not  ten  men 
could  be  found  inclined  to  promote  the  subject  of 
my  endeavors.  The  study  of  the  Talmud  was  reign- 
ing with  omnipotent  sway,  and  the  visitors  of  the 
richly  endowed  Beth-Hamidrash  were  exercising  an 

305 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

unbounded  influence.  The  Melamdim,  who  consid- 
ered their  existence  endangered  by  any  change  in  the 
system  of  instruction,  were  ready  to  make  a  phalanx- 
like stand  against  my  scheme  and  to  stir  up  all  the 
hostile  elements  possible  to  frustrate  any  overture 
made  by  me  towards  this  end.  The  Chassidim  had 
crept  into  Minsk,  established  their  Chassidini-Stuehel 
(synagogues)  and  were  trying  to  promulgate  their 
teachings,  an  undertaking  in  which  they  had  not  yet 
succeeded  in  Vilna.  But  instead  of  opposing  the 
Misnagdim  (Rabbinists)  as  they  were  wont  to  do  in 
all  other  cases,  they  soon  made  common  cause  with 
them  to  defeat  me,  who  was  considered  to  be  their 
common  enemy.  Sound  Talmudical  study,  accom- 
panied by  Pilpul  and  all  its  extravagances ;  a  hatred 
against  all,  even  the  most  useful  innovations,  com- 
mands and  Minhagim;  unstained  morality  through- 
out all  the  classes  of  Jewish  society  (a  fact  Vilna 
could  not  boast  of)  ;  more  wealth,  by  far  less  pov- 
erty, and  hence  also  more  independence  and  self-reli- 
ance— these  were  the  characteristics  of  the  congrega- 
tion I  now  had  to  deal  with. 

During  my  sojourn  in  Minsk,  which  I  visited  twice 
thereafter,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  but  two  gen- 
tlemen who  favored  a  better  system  of  education, 
and  by  self-erudition  had  become  well  versed  in  Ger- 
man literature.  They  were  Mr.  Susele  Rappoport 
and  his  intimate  friend,  Rabbi  Israel  Michael  Jes- 
hurun.  Rappoport,  born  of  poor  parents  in  one  of  the 
obscure  villages  of  the  State  of  Minsk,  showed  such 
eminent  talents  in  his  childhood  that  he  soon  acquired 
a  high  reputation  as  a  Talmudical  scholar.  When 
about  thirteen  years  of  age  he  was  accompanied  by 
his  father  to  Minsk,  where  upon  delivering  a  Dera- 

306 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

shah  in  the  Beth-Hamidrash,  he  elicited  the  admira- 
tion of  all  the  rabbis  present  and  the  universal  ap- 
plause of  the  community.  With  a  great  store  of 
learning  and  great  sagacity  he  defended  his  thesis 
against  the  numberless  and  endless  queries  of  his 
Talmudical  antagonists,  and  when  he  left  the  syna- 
gogue his  fame  as  an  Iliii  (eminent  scholar)  was 
established.  All  the  rabbis  and  rich  men  of  the  place 
vied  with  one  another  to  invite  him  into  their  houses 
and  to  enjoy  his  company;  and  one  of  these  pluto- 
crats, who  had  two  daughters,  immediately  resolved 
upon  engaging  him  to  the  younger  one,  whom  he 
married  a  few  years  afterwards.  In  the  meantime 
he  was  continually  engaged  in  the  exclusive  study  of 
the  Talmud,  while  his  father-in-law  defrayed  all  his 
expenses.  A  few  years  afterwards  he  was  initiated 
into  the  complicated  mysteries  of  commerce  and  suc- 
ceeded in  all  his  undertakings.  When  his  father-in- 
law  died  he  inherited  over  100,000  rubles  silver,  and 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Aaron  Turie,  was  con- 
sidered the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  man  in 
the  city.  But  while  Turie  strongly  favored  and  sup- 
ported the  darkest  extremes  of  the  Rabbinists,  Rap- 
poport  became  a  strong  and  learned  advocate  of  a 
reform  of  the  educational  system,  as  pursued  here- 
tofore. He  was  bold  enough  to  have  his  children 
instructed  in  the  modern  languages,  a  fact  that  great- 
ly diminished  the  fame  he  was  enjoying  of  being  one 
of  the  pillars  of  Talmudical  science  and  literature. 
He  was  the  first  who  bought  a  piano,  to  have  his 
daughters  instructed  in  music ;  this  called  forth  an 
outburst  of  the  most  fierce  indignation.  His  wife, 
though  related  to  the  hyperorthodox  Chief  Rabbi  of 
Krakau,  dared  now  and  then  to  change  the  Polish 

307 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

StcrntuccJicl  for  a  hood  a  la  Parisienne,  and  in  her 
house  a  more  refined  menage  was  apparent  through- 
out all  the  departments. 

The  friend  of  Mr.  Susele  Rappoport  was  Rabbi 
Israel  Michael  Jeshurun,  a  man  who,  if  circum- 
stances would  have  favored  him  to  be  called  into 
Germany,  would  doubtless  have  been  numbered 
amongst  the  greatest  contemporaries  of  Jewish  litera- 
ture, and  with  Rappoport  of  Prague  and  Zunz  of 
Berlin,  would  have  formed  a  constellation  of  the 
first  grandeur.  He  was  a  man  over  five  feet  high, 
of  slender  build,  red  nose,  black  eyes  and  black 
beard.  His  exterior  at  the  first  meeting  was  unat- 
tractive, but  as  soon  as  he  was  engaged  in  conver- 
sation his  vast  erudition  elicited  the  warmest  affec- 
tion and  admiration. 

United  by  earnest  researches  and  deep  investiga- 
tions in  the  Talmud,  both  Rappoport  and  Jeshurun 
felt  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  other  sciences.  But 
the  means  were  missing  for  obtaining  the  required 
information.  Surrounded  by  the  ever-watchful  fanat- 
ics of  the  Beth  Hamidrash,  by  thousands  of  Melam- 
dim,  who  considered  any  innovation  the  sure  ruin  of 
the  system  by  which  they  were  making  a  living, 
afraid  of  being  decried  as  heretics  and  apostates,  be- 
sides being  injured  in  their  business,  for  a  long  time 
they  were  at  a  loss  how  to  quench  their  thirst  for 
knowledge. 

XXIX. 

On  the  following  Sabbath  I  visited  the  synagogues, 
but  met  with  the  same  cold  and  reserved  treatment. 
Meetings   were  held  all  over  the  city  at   which  the 

308 


MY   TRAVE;l,S    in    RUSSIA. 

firm  resolution  was  voiced  by  all  present  to  defeat 
my  scheme  at  once.  It  was  said:  "If  Vilna  gave 
ear  to  these  dangerous  reforms  of  the  educational 
system  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  since  for  many 
a  year  all  misfortunes  have  been  caused  by  the  in- 
trigues and  irreligion  of  the  Berliners ;  the  better 
ones  in  the  Jewish  metropolis  have  been  intimidated 
by  the  threats  of  godless  informers,  and  hence  the 
unmanly  and  ungodly  submissiveness  on  the  part  of 
the  Jewish  authorities  of  Vilna.  But  Minsk,  thank 
God,"  they  continued,  "is  not  afraid  of  the  conse- 
quences that  decided  opposition  will  bring;  we  are 
ready  for  martyrdom,  and  by  setting  a  glorious  ex- 
ample to  all  our  sister  cities,  we  will  deserve  well  of 
our  religion  like  the  heroes  of  old."  The  Melam- 
dini,  whose  existence  was  at  stake,  were  overbusy 
in  fomenting  this  tumultuous  spirit ;  false  rumors 
were  spread  all  over  the  city;  all  kinds  of  calumnies 
were  related,  and  on  Sunday  morning  all  business 
was  at  a  standstill.  No  subject  but  the  meeting  of 
the  evening  was  discussed.  My  journey  to  Minsk 
had  proved  not  only  an  entire  failure,  but  was  sure 
to  react  most  unfavorably  upon  Vilna.  I  pitied  not 
myself,  but  my  friends,  against  whom  all  kinds  of 
fanatical  threats  were  uttered,  and  with  an  uneasy 
heart  I  went  into  the  large  rooms  of  the  vestry  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

They  were  crowded  to  the  utmost.  The  presiding 
officers  of  the  congregation  were  not  present  as  yet, 
and  the  utmost  disorder  prevailed.  The  greatest  indig- 
nation against  the  proposed  reform  of  the  schools 
was  unanimously  manifested.  The  leading  members 
of  the  Beth  Hamidrash  threatened  with  banishment 
and  excommunication  anyone  who  would  dare  sup- 

309 


MAX  LILIENTHAL. 

port  such  a  frivolous  scheme.  The  Melamdim  un- 
faltering and  united  like  a  phalanx  described  in 
gloomy  colors  the  future  punishment  awaiting  those 
who  would  lead  the  innocent  children  to  apostacy. 
The  Shiur  rabbis  could  not  quote  enough  Talmudical 
sentences  proving  the  wickedness  of  those  who  would 
indulge  in  the  reading  of  Terefa  Posul,  and  the  de- 
termination to  defeat  any  motion  made  in  favor  of 
my  mission  was  general.  I  could  not  recognize  any 
more  the  usual  quiet  and  calm  of  the  Russian  Jew ; 
roused  by  fanaticism,  they  were  like  infuriated  lions. 
I  perceived  the  uselessness  of  advocating  in  this  meet- 
ing the  cause  to  which  I  had  devoted  my  best  ener- 
gies. Some  of  my  best  friends,  afraid  of  the  result 
of  this  meeting  and  the  treatment  I  was  risking, 
advised  me  to  leave  the  assembly,  saying  that  they 
would  inform  me  of  its  result  at  the  close  of  the 
debate. 

I  went  home  discouraged  and  dismayed,  not  only 
for  the  sake  of  Minsk,  in  which  city  my  cause  was 
lost  irretrievably,  but  because  of  the  retroactive  in- 
fluence it  needs  must  exercise  over  Vilna.  Upon  my 
way  home  I  found  people  discussing  and  debating  the 
same  subject  most  fervently  at  the  corner  of  every 
street.  They  treated  me  in  the  most  abusive  man- 
ner, and  threatened  me  with  all  kinds  of  bitter  ven- 
geance. The  excitement  throughout  the  city  was  in- 
tense, increasing  every  minute  by  the  inflammatory 
discourses  held  by  the  Melamdim.  Each  and  all  were 
resolved  to  risk  everything  to  prevent  my  unjustifiable 
infringements  upon  the  religion. 

The  solitude  of  my  apartment  made  me  feel  un- 
easy. The  ladies  of  the  house  looked  so  gloomy  and 
suspicious   that   their   company   made   my   stay   still 

310 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

more  disagreeable,  and  I  hurried  away  into  the  lovely 
circle  of  Rappoport's  family.  In  passing  the  vestry 
rooms  I  heard  such  an  uproar  of  voices  that  really 
I  began  to  fear  the  worst.  I  found  Jeshurun  in  Rap- 
poport's house ;  he  had  left  the  Beth  Hamidrash  an 
hour  earlier  than  usual,  disgusted  at  the  abusive 
language  he  was  constrained  to  hear  in  the  course  of 
the  day.  He  sat  there  in  the  old,  leathern  armchair, 
looking  gloomy  and  pensive  and  despairing  of  the 
success  of  the  noble  ideas  he  had  entertained  so 
cheerfully  for  many  years  past.  He  shook  my  hand 
heartily  without  uttering  a  word,  so  deeply  was  he 
affected.  He,  too,  was  awaiting  anxiously  the  return 
of  Rappoport,  who  had  promised  to  be  back  as  soon 
as  the  meeting  had  adjourned.  We  had  not  to  wait 
very  long.  With  his  usual  calmness  and  tranquility 
of  mind  he  entered  the  chamber,  uttering  sighingly 
the  sad  words :  "Lost,  all  lost !"  We  three  then 
shook  hands,  like  the  noble  conspirators  on  the  Riitli, 
each  one  resolving  silently  and  by  himself  not  to  give 
up  the  good  cause  in  which  we  had  engaged.  He  then 
related  to  us  how  easily  our  enemies  had  carried  off 
the  palm  of  victory,  and  that  under  the  present  cir- 
cumstances there  was  not  the  least  chance  for  any 
success  whatever. 

I  then  declared  to  them  my  intention  of  leaving 
the  city  in  a  few  days  in  order  to  quench,  if  possi- 
ble, the  opposition  that  would  now  raise  its  head  in 
Vilna,  or  in  case  I  should  fail  in  that  ominous  task 
to  go  directly  back  to  St.  Petersburg  and  to  try  other 
ways  and  means.  They  approved  of  my  resolution 
and  sent  two  of  their  servants  with  me  to  see  me 
home,  afraid  that  some  accident  might  befall  me  on 
the  way. 

311 


MAX  LIUKNTHAIv. 

Tlie  public  joy  over  the  defeat  was  as  intense  the 
next  morning  as  had  been  the  efforts  to  accompHsh 
this  defeat  the  day  before.  I  was  shunned  every- 
where in  the  streets.  No  one  greeted  me,  everyone 
being  afraid  of  coming  in  contact  with  him  who  was 
considered  ahnost  an  outlaw ;  and  when  three  days 
afterwards  I  left  the  city  none  of  my  friends  were 
with  me  to  bid  me  farewell.  The  scorn  and  derision 
of  wanton  children  were  the  last  sounds  that  accom- 
panied me  out  of  the  city  of  Minsk. 

XXX. 

It  was  Friday  afternoon  when  discouraged  and 
dismayed  I  arrived  at  my  lodgings  in  Vilna.  The 
news  of  my  return  spread  like  wildfire  through  the 
city.  No  sooner  was  the  service  of  Friday  evening 
terminated  than  my  friends  hurried  to  my  room  to 
see  me.  It  was  no  friendly  and  joyful  welcome  that 
awaited  me;  gloomy  and  dejected  they  came  in  like 
mourners,  shook  hands  with  me,  and  in  true  Jewish- 
Russian  style  sat  down  in  thoughtful  silence  await- 
ing the  sad  report  I  had  to  make.  I  related  without 
exaggeration  all  the  events  that  had  passed  in  Minsk, 
reported  the  total  defeat  I  had  experienced  and  the 
stern  and  unbending  opposition  I  had  met  with.  One 
reproached  me  for  having  gone  to  Minsk  before  my 
project  had  taken  firm  root  in  Vilna ;  another,  who 
had  advised  me  to  go  thither,  expressed  his  sorrow- 
ful astonishment  at  his  miscalculation  and  my  dis- 
comfiture ;  the  third  told  me  that  letters  from  Minsk 
had  already  spread  throughout  the  city  the  details  of 
the  manly  deportment  of  th.e  Jews  of  Minsk,  and 
that  great   preparations   were   made   to    frustrate   all 

312 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

further  schemes  of  this  kind;  the  fourth,  a  true 
friend  of  mine,  and  disgusted  with  the  opposition, 
initiated  in  all  their  mysteries  and  intrigues,  stated 
that  next  Passover  opposition  v^^ould  be  made  on  a 
grand,  hitherto  unknovi'n  scale,  and  that  I  must  pre- 
pare myself  for  the  worst.  The  nimbus  that  sur- 
rounded me  on  my  first  arrival  in  Vilna  was  gone; 
the  implicit  confidence  I  had  enjoyed  was  shaken,  for 
people  are  given  to  pronouncing  their  verdict  after  the 
result  of  any  enterprise.  The  result  of  my  journey  to 
Minsk  being  entirely  unfavorable,  they  all  seemed  to 
become  prophets  of  evil  forebodings. 

Being  prepared  for  such  a  reception,  I  replied  that 
I  would  pass  the  Passover  calmly  and  composedly  in 
Vilna,  in  spite  of  the  threatening  storm  that  was 
hovering  over  us ;  that  I  would  stand  to  the  last  and 
without  infringing  upon  the  rights  of  our  brethren, 
I  would  not  surrender  before  the  government  would 
order  me  to  give  up  the  glorious  undertaking  in 
which  we  were  engaged. 

The  few  weeks  before  Passover  the  Jewish  fami- 
lies of  Vilna,  as  everywhere  else,  were  too  much  en- 
gaged with  the  preparations  for  the  feast  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  Matsoth  to  the  numberless  poor  for  any 
leisure  to  be  spared  for  agitation.  The  officers  of 
the  congregations  sat  in  almost  continuous  meetings 
to  provide  for  all  the  destitute  who  called  on  them 
for  charity.  Besides  the  resident  poor,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Russian  soldiers  came  to  Vilna ;  these  also 
had  to  be  attended  to,  for  Passover  is  the  only  time 
in  the  year  in  which  they  are  enabled  to  live  accord- 
ing to  the  rabbinical  observances.  The  burden  im- 
posed during  this  time  upon  the  treasury  and  private 
liberality  of  the  Jewish  congregation  is  so  heavy  that 

313 


MAX  ULI^NTHAIv. 

the  generals  and  colonels  of  the  different  regiments 
garrisoned  in  Vilna  willingly  contribute  their  volun- 
tary mite  towards  defraying  the  enormous  expenses. 
Hence  it  was  comparatively  quiet  in  the  city ;  but  it 
was  merely  the  calm  preceding  the  coming  storm. 

The  question  was  agitated  only  in  the  Bothe  Mid- 
rashim,  where  the  Melamdim  made  the  necessary 
preparations  for  the  outbreak,  gathering  all  their 
forces  and  enrolling  in  behalf  of  their  cause  as  many 
as  were  willing  to  join  them.  All  kinds  of  rumors 
were  set  afloat  which  increased  the  general  uncer- 
tainty and  uneasiness  to  such  a  degree  that  the  chief 

of  police,  Colonel  R ,  resolved  upon  attending  the 

meeting  himself. 

The  feast  had  come,  but  was  not  celebrated  with 
the  usual  hilarity  and  joyfulness.  No  sooner  had  the 
people  left  the  synagogues  and  partaken  of  their 
dinners  than  meetings  were  held  everywhere.  The 
Melamdim  faithfully  copied  the  example  of  their 
fellow  teachers  of  Minsk ;  instigated  by  letters  they 
had  received  from  their  friends  in  that  city,  they 
used  the  most  inflammatory  language,  exciting  all  pas- 
sions, exhorting  the  doubtful,  encouraging  the  in- 
timidated and  infuriating  the  fanatics.  The  manly 
deportment  of  the  men  of  Minsk  was  extolled  to  the 
sky  in  terms  the  most  praiseworthy,  and  in  language 
most  abusive  the  cowardly  behavior  of  the  Jewish 
officers  of  Vilna  was  depicted.  True,  the  chief 
rabbi  and  the  principal  associates  of  the  Beth  Din 
remained  neutral ;  fearing  for  their  offices  they 
lacked  the  moral  courage  of  taking  my  part  openly, 
neither  could  they  join  the  party  of  the  opposition. 
But  the  hourly  increasing  number  of  the  opponents 
did   not   care   very  much    for  their   support;   relying 

314 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

upon  their  strength  they  preferred  to  act  for  them- 
selves to  being  checked  by  the  precaution  and  cir- 
cumspection Hkely  to  be  exercised  by  the  Jewish  of- 
ficials. 

At  last  the  first  day  of  Choi  Hammocd^^  appeared; 
the  meeting  was  called  for  one  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon to  take  final  action  on  the  plan  I  had  laid  be- 
fore them  about  three  months  prior.  The  vestry  was 
crowded  to  the  utmost ;  the  Schulhof  was  filled  in 
every  corner;  over  40,000  men  were  present  ready 
to  dictate  by  force  and  not  to  listen  to  any  reason- 
ing argument ;  the  glorious  example  of  the  steadfast 
city  of  Minsk  had  to  be  imitated,  be  the  conse- 
quences what  they  may.  The  president  of  the  con- 
gregation presided.  The  chief  of  police  was  present, 
accompanied  by  one  of  his  Cossacks,  to  be  sent 
wherever  an  emergency  would  require  his  services. 
But  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  any  order  in  the 
debate;  propositions  were  made  and  carried;  the  ex- 
citement increased  continually;  no  speaker  could 
make  himself  heard ;  my  scheme  was  denounced  as 
godless  and  sinful;  threats  of  the  most  daring  kind 
were  uttered,  and  even  the  chief  of  police  was  gross- 
ly insulted.  Though  fully  resolved  to  show  the 
greatest  forbearance  to  the  masses  infuriated  by  re- 
ligious fanaticism  and  prejudice,  he  soon  perceived 
that  he  had  to  take  energetic  measures  to  stop  the 
uproar  if  he  did  not  want  to  be  found  guilty  of  al- 
lowing a  revolutionary  upheaval.  In  order  to  set  an 
example  he  therefore  arrested  the  Parnass,  whose 
dissimulation  he  had  penetrated,  and  ordered  the  fire 
companies   to    come   and   to    disperse   the   crowd   by 

"  The  days  intervening  between  the  first  and  last  days  of 
the  feast. 

315 


MAX  LIIjRNTHAIv. 

throwing  streams  of  water  from  their  powerful  en- 
gines. The  cold  water  appeased  the  inflamed  fury ; 
the  people  fled  in  all  directions ;  in  half  an  hour  the 
place  was  vacated,  but  in  Vilna  for  the  present  my 
case  was  lost  irretrievably. 

It  was  indeed  no  holiday  that  I  spent  in  Vilna. 
The  time  hung  so  heavily  upon  me;  the  animosity 
against  me  increased  steadily,  and  the  encouragement 
of  my  friends  decreased.  When  I  was  returning 
home  at  a  late  hour  in  the  evening  I  was  afraid 
of  being  stabbed  by  fanatics  who  had  uttered  all 
kinds  of  foul  threats  against  me.  There  was  only 
one  man,  from  the  neighboring  town  of  Vilkomir, 
who,  though  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the  Chassidim, 
never  ceased  to  cheer  me  up.  Two  days  after- 
wards he  came  into  my  room,  accompanied  by  a 
Jewish  tailor,  saying:  "Doctor,  as  you  are  going 
to  St.  Petersburg,  to  make  up  for  what  we  have 
lost  here,  I  intend  to  present  you  with  a  new  suit 
of  the  finest  black  cloth  you  ever  wore.  Be  of 
good  cheer,  we  are  lost  only  if  we  will  give  up  our- 
selves ;  but  as  long  as  we  stand  firm  and  fearless, 
there  is  not  the  least  danger  of  being  vanquished." 
I  thanked  him  heartily ;  for  the  least  encouragement 
in  such  times  of  troubles  is  a  refreshing  balm  for 
the  bleeding  heart. 

I  made  the  necessary  preparations  for  my  imme- 
diate departure  after  the  holidays.  When  I  took 
leave  of  the  governor-general  and  the  curator  of  the 
schools,  both  expressed  their  deep  indignation  at  the 
deportment  of  my  coreligionists  and  informed  me 
that  they  had  reported  all  that  had  happened  to  the 
respective  authorities  in  the  Russian  metropolis.  I 
felt    sorry    for   this,    because   being    resolved   not   to 

316 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

expose  my  brethren,  I  was  afraid  of  the  sad  conse- 
quences those  reports  would  bring  them.  Without 
delay  I  therefore  started  for  St.  Petersburg  the  first 
night  after  the  holidays. 

XXXI. 

I  had  been  assured  by  my  friends  before  leaving 
Vilna  that  if  I  started  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening 
I  would  reach  Vilkomir  the  next  morning  before  the 
mail  coach  from  Warsaw  would  arrive  to  take  the 
passengers  to  St.  Petersburg.  I  therefore  left  Vilna 
at  the  appointed  hour,  but  upon  arriving  at  Vilkomir 
I  was  informed,  to  my  great  disappointment,  that  the 
mail  coach  had  already  passed  the  city  two  hours 
before.  Being  anxious  to  reach  the  capital  before 
the  official  reports  of  the  failure  of  my  mission  would 
lead  to  any  fatal  consequences,  I  consulted  with  the 
secretary  appointed  to  that  post  station  as  to  how 
I  could  overtake  the  mail.  He  told  me  that  if  I 
traveled  the  whole  day  without  partaking  of  any 
meal  or  rest  I  might  have  a  chance  to  meet  the  mail 
in  the  evening  at  Orcha,  where  the  passage  of  a 
ferry  always  caused  some  delay ;  and  in  order  to 
accommodate  me  he  would  give  me  the  best  horses 
in  the  stable,  the  same  with  which  the  emperor  him- 
self traveled  when  passing  this  route.  I  had  now 
to  prepare  myself  for  a  courier's  passage.  A  com- 
mon cart  without  any  springs  whatever,  covered  with 
some  bundles  of  straw,  was  my  vehicle  of  transpor- 
tation. My  trunk  had  to  serve  as  a  seat,  on  which 
I  passed  the  day.  The  road  over  which  we  had  to 
travel  hastily  was  extremely  rough,  as  most  of  the 
roads  in  Russia  are ;  there  was  no  prospect   for  an 

317 


MAX  UUENTIIAL. 

agreeable  journey.  According  to  the  habit  of  Rus- 
sian Fcldjiigcrs  (couriers),  1  put  a  girdle  around  my 
waist  and  recommended  my  soul  to  God  and  my 
body  to  the  mercy  of  the  driver.  I  promised  him  a 
reward  in  case  he  would  hasten  on. 

The  Russian  drivers  use  no  whip;  they  have  only 
a  small  stick  on  which  they  sit  down,  and  when  now 
and  then  they  show  it  to  their  horses  they  speak 
to  them,  and  the  horses  are  so  used  to  it  that  the 
driver  has  but  to  address  them  with  the  friendly 
words,  "Work  on,  children !"  and  they  start  with  a 
swiftness  quite  unknown  in  Germany.  No  sooner 
had  my  driver,  encouraged  by  a  glass  of  brandy  with 
which  I  had  treated  him,  uttered  the  words  familiar 
to  his  horses  than  they  started  off  at  such  a  full 
trot  that  I  could  perceive  neither  trees  nor  houses ; 
the  wind  blew  sharply  in  our  faces  and  clouds  of 
dust  whirled  around  and  about  us.  In  half  an  hour 
I  was  so  horribly  shaken  through  that  being  unable 
to  sit  any  longer  on  my  trunk  I  had  to  lie  down  on 
the  straw.  We  soon  reached  the  next  station.  While 
I  entered  the  office  to  have  my  passport  registered 
(which  has  to  be  done  in  every  office)  and  pay  the 
fees,  I  was  informed  that  the  cart  was  ready  to 
start.  With  a  terrible  headache  and  pains  in  my 
side  I  mounted  the  cart,  exposing  myself  for  another 
long  tour  to  the  same  painful  torture.  I  hardly 
thought  I  would  be  able  to  continue  my  journey, 
when  at  noon  we  reached  the  mighty  fortress  Duna- 
burg.  The  secretary,  who  was  a  German,  pitying 
my  fatigued  appearance,  urged  me  to  take  a  cup  of 
tea,  promising  that  by  giving  me  the  best  horses  of 
the  route  he  would  make  up  for  the  few  moments 
I  was  losing  in  partaking  of  this  refreshment.    When 

318 


MY    TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

I  Stepped  to  my  cart  I  found  two  ponies  attached  to 
it.  "Are  these  Httle  creatures  your  best  team  of 
horses?"  I  asked  him,  quite  astonished.  "Yes,  sir. 
Hurry  on ;  they  are  going  to  start,"  was  the  reply. 
And  he  was  right;  we  made  twenty-one  EngHsh 
miles  in  somewhat  over  an  hour. 

I  hurried  from  station  to  station,  and  at  last  in  the 
evening  at  six  o'clock  I  saw  the  mail  coach  waiting 
at  the  ferry,  to  be  carried  to  Orcha.  The  driver 
drove  his  horses  with  lightning  speed,  and  happily 
we  arrived  at  the  spot  before  the  ferry  started.  On 
the  ferry  I  jumped  down  from  my  cart,  and  hurry- 
ing up  to  the  conductor  I  asked  him:  "Is  there 
room  for  one  passenger  more  to  St.  Petersburg?" 
"No,"  was  the  stern  reply.  "The  coach  is  full." 
"But  I  have  an  imperial  passport.  I  am  going  as 
courier  to  St.  Petersburg.  Would  you  not  take  a 
coach  more?  You  will  perhaps  get  some  passengers 
on  the  way."  "I  can  not  do  it.  You  will  have  to 
wait  till  tomorrow  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  then  an- 
other coach  will  leave;  and  by  recording  your  name 
this  evening  a  place  for  you  will  be  secured  anyhow." 
Though  greatly  disappointed  at  this  answer,  I  did 
not  feel  sorry  for  it,  for  I  was  so  thoroughly  tired 
and  felt  such  pains  in  all  my  limbs  that  I  gladly 
seized  the  opportunity  of  passing  the  night  in  a  bed. 

Having  partaken  of  supper  I  was  immediately 
shown  into  my  room  and  w^ent  to  bed.  I  slept 
soundly  as  never  before.  But  early  in  the  morning 
I  awoke  and  felt  exceedingly  uneasy  all  over  my 
body.  A  creeping  and  stinging  disturbed  me  so 
badly  that  I  arose  from  my  bed  and  lighted  a  candle. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  describe  my  astonishment 
when  I  beheld  that  my  trousers,  shirt,  stockings  and 

319 


MAX  ULI12NTI1AI,. 

flannel  jacket  were  all  full  of  gigantic  bedbugs,  such 
as  I  had  never  seen  before.  I  remembered  that  I 
was  in  a  Russian  inn,  and  that  I  had  been  told  that 
in  some  of  them  the  legs  of  the  bedstead  are  put 
into  pails  of  water  in  order  to  drown  these  trouble- 
some insects,  and  to  save  the  traveler  from  any  such 
incommodity.  I  had  to  undress  myself  and  throw 
all  the  garments  in  which  I  had  slept  out  of  the 
windows.  I  then  hurried  into  a  bath,  which  luckily 
was  at  hand,  and  having  refreshed  myself,  I  con- 
tinued my  journey  to  St.  Petersburg  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  company  of  several  merchants  and  officers. 

We  arrived  there  the  next  day  early  in  the  morn- 
ing. At  six  o'clock  I  waited  on  Councilor  Duksta 
Dykskinsky,  who  told  me  that  the  department  had 
received  official  information  of  all  that  had  passed 
in  Minsk  and  Vilna,  and  that  the  minister  was 
anxious  to  see  me.  He  therefore  advised  me  to  go 
and  see  Prince  Shirinski  Shichmatoff,  who  could 
tell  me  the  precise  time  when  the  minister  would 
grant  me  an  audience.  As  he  resided  nearby  I  went 
to  call  on  him,  and  being  admitted  into  his  presence 
he  told  me  that  at  noon  I  should  come  to  the  min- 
ister's salon,  whence  he  could  take  me  to  him. 

It  was  Easter  week.  On  Easter  Sunday  a  levee 
always  takes  place  at  the  imperial  court,  where 
all  the  persons  enjoying  the  right  to  appear  at  court 
and  the  municipal  authorities  offer  the  emperor  their 
congratulations.  The  ministers  of  the  different  de- 
partments receive  their  subordinates  in  the  course  of 
Easter  week,  and  the  day  of  my  arrival  had  been 
appointed  a  reception  day  in  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction.  When  I  entered  the  large  salon  I 
found  it  crowded  to  the  utmost  with  men  in  richly 

320 


MY    TRAVEI.S    IN    RUSSIA. 

embroidered  uniforms  and  stars  and  ribbons  of  the 
different  imperial  decorations.  The  members  of  the 
Academy  of  Science,  the  officers  of  the  departments, 
the  heads  of  all  the  scientific  schools  and  institutions 
were  assembled  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  minister. 
Looking  very  poor  in  my  black  dress  coat  in  the 
midst  of  this  gilded  and  glittering  assembly,  I  re- 
mained near  the  entrance  door  without  mingling  with 
this  aristocratic  crowd. 

XXXII. 

At  one  o'clock  the  minister.  Count  Uwaroff,  fol- 
lowed by  the  director  of  the  department.  Prince 
Shirinsky  Shichmatoff,  entered  the  large  reception 
hall.  Deep  silence  prevailed.  He  did  not  wear  his 
gold  embroidered  dress  coat,  but  the  one  which  he 
usually  wore  during  the  service,  decorated  with  the 
two  great  stars  of  the  Order  of  Vladimir  and  the 
White  Eagle.  No  sooner  had  he  conversed  for  a 
few  minutes  with  some  of  the  principal  officers  pres- 
ent than  he  walked  down  the  long  hall,  and  shaking 
my  hand  heartily,  said :  "Doctor,  I  am  pleased  to 
see  you  here  safe  and  in  good  health.  I  am  in- 
formed of  all  that  has  passed  in  Minsk  and  Vilna. 
Stay  here  till  the  reception  is  over,  then  come  into  my 
salon,  as  I  am  anxious  to  hear  your  report."  This 
cordial  deportment  of  the  minister  drew  the  atten- 
tion of  the  whole  crowd  to  me.  I  was  introduced  to 
a  great  many  of  these  men  with  stars  and  ribbons, 
and  everyone  was  anxious  to  know  the  man  whom 
the  minister  had  treated  with  such  courtesy. 

Half  an  hour  afterwards  the  assembly  had  been 
dismissed,    and    I    was    ushered    into    the    minister's 

321 


MAX  LIUUNTHAL. 

private  chamber.  There  I  met  the  director  and  vice- 
director  of  the  department  and  the  chief  aide-de-camp 
of  the  Grand  Duke  Michael,  the  emperor's  brother. 
The  minister  kindly  introduced  me  to  the  latter,  and 
having  listened  attentively  to  a  brief  report  of  my 
adventures  he  ordered  me  to  return  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  when  he  could  discuss  the  whole 
subject  with  me. 

In  spite  of  the  treatment  I  had  experienced  from 
my  brethren  in  faith,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to 
save  them  from  any  fatal  consequences  and  to  bring 
the  question  to  an  issue  favorable  to  the  government 
and  to  the  Jews.  I  intended  to  assist  the  govern- 
ment in  carrying  out  the  noble  plan  of  reforming 
the  educational  system  of  the  Jews,  and  on  the  other 
hand  to  obtain  for  them  all  possible  security  against 
any  infringement  on  their  sacred  faith.  Being  my- 
self too  young  to  take  upon  my  shoulders  the  re- 
sponsibility of  such  an  immense  task,  I  had  resolved 
upon  trying  my  best  to  get  assistants  in  this  gigantic 
work ;  hence  I  tried  first  to  excuse  the  Jews  for  the 
opposition  they  had  shown  against  the  government, 
and  then  to  lay  a  plan  before  the  minister,  showing 
how  the  emperor's  will  could  be  carried  out  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  Jewish  population. 

Therefore,  when  at  the  appointed  hour  I  entered 
the  ministers  chamber,  he  addressed  me  thus : 

"Well,  doctor,  you  have  been  shamefully  abused 
by  our  Jews.  I  did  not  expect  this  opposition  on 
their  part." 

I  replied :  "Your  Excellency,  the  Jews  are  not  to 
blame.  I  think  it  was  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the 
department  to  select  me  for  this  important  mission. 
The  Jews  are  used  to  respect  only  age  and  experi- 

322 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

ence;  and  hence  when  they  saw  me,  who  am  but 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  their  confidence  was  gone 
and  their  suspicion  aroused.  You  have  taught  the 
Russian  people  to  respect  their  nationahty.  Under 
the  government  of  the  present  emperor  the  foreigners 
in  all  departments  have  to  step  into  the  background. 
My  Jewish  brethren  are  also,  I  suppose,  jealous  that 
a  Russian  Jew  was  not  entrusted  with  this  important 
charge,  and  I  entertain  not  the  least  doubt  that  as 
soon  as  you  will  call  upon  some  of  the  influential 
men  of  the  Jewish  community  the  Jews  will  carry 
out  unanimously  and  readily  the  well-intentioned  plan 
of  the  imperial  government.  But  I,  being  very  young, 
a  foreigner,  unacquainted  with  the  Russian  vernacu- 
lar and  the  routine  of  Russian  affairs,  am  looked 
upon  with  full  and  not  unjustifiable  suspicion.  Some 
of  them  even  suspect  me  of  being  a  missionary,  fos- 
tering in  disguise  some  proselytizing  schemes.  You 
should  call  on  men  who  enjoy  their  fullest  confidence, 
and  I  am  sure  all  your  expectations  will  be  sur- 
passed." 

The  minister  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  my  plea. 
That  I  did  not  despair  of  the  final  result  of  his 
favorite  scheme,  which  no  doubt  he  was  able  to  carry 
out  by  force,  but  which  he  preferred  to  see  favored 
by  the  Jews  themselves ;  that  I  showed  him  a  tangi- 
ble plan  how  this  result  might  be  attained  easily; 
that  I  charged  the  failure  of  my  mission  to  my  own 
account,  and  not  to  the  fanatical  obstinacy  of  the 
Jews — all  this  made  a  rather  good  impression  on  him. 

"I  do  it  willingly  and  conscientiously.  Your  Excel- 
lency. I  heard  in  Vilna  men  of  all  shades  of  opin- 
ion expressing  their  full  confidence  in  your  good  in- 
tentions.   A  large  majority  is  fully  aware  that  some- 

323 


MAX  ULIENTHAIv. 

thing  must  be  done  for  the  improvement  of  Jewish 
education,  and  that  the  Jew  can  impossibly  remain 
ahenated  and  isolated  from  the  civilization  of  the 
present  day.  But  the  Mclamdim  are  afraid  of  losing 
the  ways  and  means  of  making  a  living,  and  as  soon 
as  they  will  be  shown  that  their  services  will  be 
needed  for  some  future  time,  their  opposition  will 
be  weakened ;  and  the  others,  fearing  that  their  faith 
will  be  exposed  to  imminent  danger,  may  be  appeased 
if  we  give  them  some  guarantee  that  this  is  neither 
the  case  nor  your  intention." 

"Well,  what  guarantee  shall  we  give  them?" 
"Your  Excellency,  you  know  that  Napoleon,  when 
he  began  his  great  reform  among  the  French  Jews, 
convened  a  Sanhcdrin  in  France  to  which  he  invited 
the  most  influential  rabbis  and  laymen  of  the  French 
empire.  Some  of  their  answers  evinced  an  attitude 
quite  beyond  the  intellectual  position  the  Jews  in 
France,  especially  in  Alsace,  were  then  occupying. 
Nevertheless,  the  Jews  willingly  acquiesced  in  the 
decision  given  by  men  of  whose  integrity  and  learn- 
ing they  could  entertain  no  doubt  whatever.  The 
consistories  then  established  by  Napoleon,  and  pros- 
perous still  today,  exercised  such  a  beneficial  influ- 
ence on  the  French  Jews  that  you  find  them  today  in 
every  branch  of  the  public  service  holding  many  of- 
fices with  the  greatest  honor  to  themselves  and  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  government.  If  now  His 
Imperial  Majesty  would  deign  to  order  a  convention 
of  rabbis  to  gather  in  St.  Petersburg,  elected  by  the 
Jews  themselves,  and  presided  over  by  Your  Excel- 
lency, I  am  quite  convinced  that  you  would  attain 
the  same  glorious  aim  that  was  reached  in  France. 
Every  mistrust  must  give  way ;  every  fear  of  prosel- 

324 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

ytizing  schemes  must  vanish  when  men  of  their  own 
choice  are  to  be  their  representatives  and  the  framers 
of  the  new  system;  and  the  name  of  Uwaroff  will 
be  recorded  in  the  annals  of  Jewish  history  with 
gratitude  and  reverence." 

"The  plan  is  a  good  one,"  replied  the  minister. 
"I  am  extremely  pleased  with  this  suggestion;  it 
agrees  entirely  with  my  views,  and  I  shall  take  it 
up  at  once.  How  many  rabbis,  doctor,  do  you  sug- 
gest that  we  should  order  to  be  convened?" 

"The  more  the  better.  Your  Excellency.  You  know 
that  the  Jews  of  the  Russian  empire  are  divided  into 
Misnagdim  and  Chassidim,  and  that  the  latter  again 
are  subdivided  into  numerous  classes.  Hence,  in  or- 
der to  avoid  all  motives  of  jealousy,  if  you  would 
order  one  rabbi  from  every  province  in  which  the 
Jews  are  permitted  to  live,  the  convention  would  be 
quite  representative  and  give  satisfaction  all  around." 

"See  tomorrow,"  replied  the  minister,  "the  Coun- 
cilor Duksta  Dykshinsky.  Draw  up  with  him  a  plan 
for  this  purpose.  I  then  shall  submit  it  to  the  com- 
mittee of  ministers  and  to  the  emperor,  and  as  soon 
as  I  shall  have  received  the  emperor's  signature  we 
will  go  to  work  earnestly." 

Happy  at  the  result  of  this  audience,  and  pleased 
with  the  idea  of  having  averted  any  fatal  conse- 
quence from  my  coreligionists  I  hurried  home  where 
some  friends,  awaiting  my  return,  congratulated  me 
on  the  unexpected  success  of  my  first  visit  to  the 
minister. 


325 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 


XXXIII. 


The  minister  had  presented  to  the  Council  of  Min- 
isters his  plan  of  convening  a  Jewish  Synod  in  St. 
Petersburg.  The  council  at  once  approved  of  the 
scheme  that  from  each  of  the  seventeen  provinces  of 
the  empire  in  which  the  Jews  are  permitted  to  live, 
one  rabbi  should  be  delegated  to  the  intended  synod. 
The  memorial  was  presented  to  the  emperor  as  usual 
for  approval,  and  after  three  days  (for  Nicholas 
never  kept  any  paper  longer  than  three  days)  it  was 
remitted  to  the  department,  the  emperor  approving 
of  the  plan;  the  subjects  to  be  discussed  by  the 
synod  were  indicated,  but  the  number  of  its  mem- 
bers was  restricted  to  four.  Though  somewhat  dis- 
heartened by  this  restriction,  the  minister  felt  pleased 
with  the  approval  of  the  idea,  and  in  the  afternoon 
I  received  a  letter,  addressed  to  me  by  Councilor 
Duksta  Dykshinsky,  informing  me  that  I  was  to  ap- 
pear at  the  minister's  villa  on  the  next  morning  at 
eleven  o'clock,  when  news  of  the  highest  importance 
would  be  communicated  to  me  by  His  Excellency. 

At  the  appointed  time  I  was  at  the  villa  which  the 
minister  had  purchased  only  a  few  weeks  before  and 
used  as  his  summer  residence.  The  entire  vicinity 
of  St.  Petersburg  is  laid  out  in  such  villas,  inhabited 
during  the  summer  by  the  Russian  aristocracy,  whose 
official  services  do  not  permit  them  to  reside  on  their 
large  estates  in  the  dififerent  provinces.  The  emperor 
himself  and  all  the  members  of  the  imperial  family 
have  immense  palaces  in  this  vicinity,  and  Peterhof 
fairly  rivals  Versailles,  after  the  model  of  which  it 
is  built.  Any  stranger  visiting  during  the  summer 
months  the  capital  with  its  fine  villas,  immense  gar- 

326 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

dens,  beautiful  promenades  and  all  the  embellish- 
ments that  art  can  add  to  nature,  would  not  dream 
of  being  in  frigid  Russia ;  he  might  well  imagine  that 
he  was  passing  one  of  the  most  delightful  seasons 
under  the  blue  and  serene  sky  of  Italy.  Besides 
this,  during  the  months  of  July  and  August  it  is 
scarcely  ever  night  in  St.  Petersburg;  at  one  o'clock 
after  midnight  the  light  of  the  setting  sun  is  still 
perceptible  on  one  side  of  the  firmament,  while  on 
the  other  the  break  of  day  makes  its  appearance. 

I  was  overcome  with  the  magnificence  of  the  min- 
ister's summer  residence.  While  admiring  the  sur- 
rounding scenery,  I  was  ordered  into  Count  Uwaroff's 
cabinet,  as  he  was  rather  anxious  to  see  and  com- 
municate to  me  the  agreeable  tidings. 

"Well,  doctor,  your  plan  has  been  approved  of.  I 
have  received  yesterday  the  document  signed  by  His 
Majesty,  and  I  feel  highly  pleased,  indeed,  that 
the  schemes  fostered  by  me  for  so  long  a  time  will 
become  a  reality  at  last.  Though  the  emperor  has 
restricted  the  number  of  the  delegates  to  four,  I  am 
sure  that  this  imperial  favor  will  overcome  all  the 
prejudices  and  fears  of  your  coreligionists,  while 
proving  to  them  at  the  same  time  that  the  govern- 
ment is  in  earnest  and  that  they  have  to  prepare 
themselves  for  a  change  of  their  educational  system." 

I  expressed  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  untiring 
efforts  of  the  minister  in  behalf  of  my  brethren,  and 
assured  him  again  that  he  would  experience  no  fur- 
ther opposition,  as  the  idea  of  seeing  their  rabbis 
participate  in  the  deliberation  of  the  new  school  plan 
would  reconcile  them  altogether  with  this  well-in- 
tended reform. 

"But  whom,  doctor,  would  you  propose  as   dele- 

327 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

gates?  We  want  men  in  whose  honesty  and  enhght- 
enment  we  can  put  confidence,  and  do  not  wish  to 
have  men  assembled  whose  mental  blindness  and 
stubborness  would  counteract  the  best  intentions  of 
the  department." 

"I  am  not  acquainted  well  enough,  Your  Excel- 
lency, with  the  Jews  in  the  southwestern  and  west- 
ern provinces  of  the  empire  to  give  you  any  name. 
Moreover,  if  the  department  would  take  the  initia- 
tive of  pointing  out  the  men  to  be  convened,  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Jews  again  would  be  thoroughly 
shaken,  and  you  would  not  attain  the  aim  of  ap- 
peasing their  apprehensions.  Your  Excellency  must 
be  kind  enough  to  adopt  in  this  case  the  republican 
principle,  that  the  people  themselves  may  choose 
their  representatives.  If  you  are  willing  to  grant 
this  favor,  I  entertain  not  the  least  doubt  that  they 
will  send  you  rabbis  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  the 
government  and  the  Jews." 

"But  the  emperor,"  continued  the  minister,  "hav- 
ing allowed  us  to  invite  but  four  delegates,  how  can 
we  satisfy  all  the  Jews  living  in  the  seventeen  west- 
ern  provinces  ?" 

"The  Jews,"  I  replied,  "are  living  in  these  seven- 
teen provinces  under  the  jurisdiction  of  four  govern- 
ors-general :  General  Mirkowitsh  in  Vilna,  General 
Bibekofif  in  Kief,  General  Woronzoff  in  Odessa,  and 

General  R in  Vitebsk.     If  one  rabbi  is  selected 

from  each  of  these  four  large  divisions,  I  think 
there  can  be  no  dissatisfaction  among  my  brethren." 

"Well,  I  agree  willingly  to  that  proposition ;  it  is 
a  very  good  and  practicable  one  and  will  remove  all 
misunderstanding.  I  will  even  point  out  no  names 
whatever ;  the  Jews  shall  have  the  privilege  of  elect- 

328 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

ing  their  representatives.  I  yield  that  point  as  a 
proof  that  I  rely  entirely  on  their  good  sense,  and 
that  I  put  more  confidence  in  them  than  they  have 
put  in  your  propositions  made  in  Vilna  and  Minsk. 
But  there  is  another  point  of  importance  I  have  to 
communicate  to  you :  you  must  prepare  yourself,  and 
that  immediately,  for  another  journey  through  all 
the  provinces  in  which  the  Jews  are  living.  You 
shall  inform  them  of  my  plans,  gain  their  assistance 
in  behalf  of  it,  superintend  their  election  of  dele- 
gates, and  try  your  best  to  promote  the  well-intended 
reforms  of  the  emperor." 

I  was  struck  with  this  proposition  and  did  not 
know  how  to  answer.  Having  experienced  such  ill 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Talmudists,  what  had 
I  not  to  expect  at  the  hands  of  fanatical  and  bigoted 
CliassidimF  The  minister  observed  my  uneasiness 
and   continued : 

"Be  not  afraid,  doctor.  We  will  take  good  care 
that  you  shall  return  safely.  I  will  request  Mr. 
Perowski,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  to  furnish 
you  with  a  general  order  to  all  the  governors-gen- 
eral that  they  are  to  grant  you  any  assistance  you 
may  require  to  fulfil  the  order  of  the  department. 
Such  a  document  is  given  only  in  extraordinary  cases, 
and  must  be  used  with  great  precaution,  but  you 
shall  have  it.  I  will  moreover  request  Count  Ren- 
kendorf,  the  Minister  of  Police,  to  send  an  order  to 
all  his  officers  to  aid  and  assist  you  as  much  as  will 
be  in  their  power.  I  shall  provide  you  with  letters 
of  introduction  and  recommendation  to  all  the  gov- 
ernors whose  provinces  you  will  visit,  and  being  pro- 
vided with  these  documents  you  will  not  have  the 
least  cause  for  any  apprehension." 

329 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

I  thanked  the  minister  in  the  warmest  terms  for 
his  kindness  and  sympathy,  and  asked  him  when  he 
wished  me  to  be  ready  to  start. 

"You  can  leave  next  week,"  he  repHed.  "The  de- 
partment will  pay  for  the  carriage  which  you  will 
buy  for  the  journey,  defray  the  expenses  for  your 
horses,  permit  daily  expenses  for  you  and  one 
servant  you  may  take  along,  according  to  the  usual 
regulations,  provide  for  you  the  necessary  passports, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  week  I  shall  order  Dykshin- 
ski  to  finish  the  instructions  upon  which  you  have  to 
act.  I  wish  you  to  be  here  again  next  Thursday, 
when  the  instructions  will  be  ready." 

Having  returned  to  my  lodgings  I  began  to  make 
the  necessary  preparations  for  a  journey  pregnant 
with  so  much  risk  and  danger.  I  ordered  an  ac- 
quaintance of  mine  to  buy  a  carriage,  a  large  travel- 
ing box  in  which  to  keep  the  necessary  provisions, 
and  a  leather  bed  on  which  to  sleep  when  arriving 
in  a  tavern  where  all  accommodations  for  travelers 
are  wanting.  In  the  course  of  two  days  I  had  fin- 
ished all  my  arrangements.  I  then  called  on  Coun- 
selor Dykshinski  and  pointed  out  to  him  the  necessity 
of  giving  me  in  the  instructions  the  plain  and  full  as- 
surance that  the  religion  of  my  brethren  should  be 
infringed  upon  in  no  way  and  manner  by  the  in- 
tended reform.  I  stated  emphatically  that  I  would 
not  offer  my  services  without  such  an  assurance  on 
the  part  of  the  government,  removing  my  doubts  and 
uneasiness,  or  else  we  had  surely  to  expect  a  second 
failure  if  I  could  not  give  an  unqualified  answer  to 
my  brethren  regarding  this  all-important  question. 
The  counselor  promised  me  willingly  to  do  so,  and 
that   the    instructions    signed   by   the    minister,    vice- 

330 


MY    TRAVI;LS    in    RUSSIA. 

minister  and  himself  would  certainly  contain  the  as- 
surance. 

On  the  following  Thursday  at  the  appointed  time 
I  called  at  the  minister's  and  received  the  following 
instructions : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION. 

No.  7206.  Division  III.  July  22,  1842. 

To  the  Director  of  the  Hebrew  School  of  Riga,  Rabbi 
Dr.  Lilienthal. 

As  by  order  of  the  department  you  are  going  to 
set  out  on  a  journey  through  the  provinces  inhab- 
ited by  the  Jews,  I  request  you  to  have  regard  to  the 
following  points : 

1.  The  line  of  your  journey  goes  through  Riga, 
Mitau,  Kovno,  Vilna,  Minsk,  Grodno,  Byalystok, 
Zhitomir,  Berditchef,  Kaminiecz-Podolsk,  Kishinef, 
Odessa,  Cherson ;  from  there  you  will  go  to  the 
province  of  Kief,  pass  Uman  to  the  city  of  Kief, 
and  further  to  Chernigof,  Mogilef  and  Vitebsk  back 
to  St.  Petersburg.  Moreover,  here  are  pointed  out 
only  the  principal  places  you  have  to  visit ;  but  it  is 
left  to  you,  if  you  deem  it  necessary  to  stop  also  at 
other  places  on  your  way,  but  without  leaving  the 
route  hereby  designated  to  you. 

2.  You  will  receive  a  free  passport  and  eight  hun- 
dred rubles  silver  towards  defraying  your  expenses. 

3.  You  will  not  neglect,  in  every  place  where  you 
will  have  to  stop,  to  inform  the  civil  and  school  au- 
thorities who  have  been  informed  of  your  journey 
immediately  of  your  arrival,  to  enter  into  communi- 
cation with  the  Jews  living  in  those  places  and  to 
confer  with  the  congregation. 

331 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

4.  You  will  explain  to  the  Jews  that  the  intention 
of  the  order  of  His  Majesty,  by  virtue  of  which  the 
Jewish  schools  and  academies  will  be  put  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  new  schools  will  be  established  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  government,  to  be  no  other  than,  with- 
out infringing  upon  their  religion,  to  prepare  them 
for  a  truly  civil  and  moral  life,  which  consists  merely 
in  the  approach  to  universally  acknowledged  civiliza- 
tion. With  this  intention  you  will  confer  with  the 
rabbis  and  Jewish  congregations,  and  by  sermons 
and  lectures  you  will  endeavor  to  confirm  them  in 
their  readiness  to  carry  out  the  will  of  His  Majesty. 

5.  You  will  try  to  discover  the  public  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  intended  reform,  and  to  learn  where 
and  from  whom  the  government  may  expect  some 
assistance,  and  in  whom  the  spirit  of  resistance  is 
lurking.  You  will  note  down  those  of  the  rabbis 
and  the  most  prominent  Jews  who  deserve  greater 
confidence  from  the  government  and  hand  me  a  list 
of  their  names. 

6.  You  will  not  omit  visiting  those  Jews  who  are 
respected  by  the  congregation,  and  explaining  to  them 
minutely  what  influence  upon  the  weal  of  their  co- 
religionists a  prompt  compliance  with  the  good  in- 
tentions of  His  Majesty  must  exercise. 

7.  As  far  as  possible,  both  in  point  of  morals  and 
pedagogics,  you  will  visit  and  examine  at  least  the 
most  important  schools  and  academies  of  the  Jews, 
and  gather  information  respecting  the  number  of 
scholars,  the  number  and  ability  of  the  teachers,  the 
organization  of  the  schools,  and  the  means  by  which 
they  are  supported. 

8.  As  far  as  possible,  you  will  investigate  the  do- 

332 


I 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

mestic  education  of  the  Jews,  inquire  concerning  the 
number,  views,  abihties  and  present  position  of  the 
Melamdim,  and  take  the  names  of  those  who  are 
distinguished  by  their  learning  and  moral  deportment. 

9.  You  will  direct  your  particular  attention  to  the 
young  people  who,  by  praiseworthy  study,  have  al- 
ready acquired  some  progress  in  the  sciences  and  will 
be  able,  by  their  laudable  endeavors  for  the  pros- 
perity of  their  coreligionists,  to  contribute  to  the  re- 
alization of  the  intentions  of  the  government.  They 
may  be  appointed  teachers  or  be  prepared  for  the 
pedagogical  career  in  the  public  institutions. 

10.  After  your  return  to  St.  Petersburg  you  will 
hand  me  your  report  on  all  the  subjects  above  men- 
tioned. Moreover,  you  will  not  omit,  even  during 
your  travels,  from  time  to  time,  to  inform  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Instruction  of  the  success  of 
your  mission. 

11.  The  great  variety  of  the  subjects  entrusted 
to  your  charge  makes  it  impossible  to  fix  the  term  of 
your  journey;  but  I  hope  that  you  will  try  to  be  back 
at  least  the  fifteenth  of  October. 

12.  Fulfilling  this  mission,  without  doubt  you  will 
fully  consider  its  importance  and  justify  the  confi- 
dence the  department  puts  in  your  abilities,  both  by 
considerate  and  circumspect  activity  and  the  thor- 
oughness of  your  reports. 

The   Minister  of   Public   Instruction, 

Uwaroff. 
The  Director  of  the  Department  and  Vice-Minister, 
Prince  Shirinski  Schichmatoff. 
Director  of  the  Third  Division  of  the  Department, 

Duksta  Dykshinsky. 


333 


MAX  LIUSNTHAIv. 


XXXIV. 


These  instructions  were  of  invaluable  importance 
to  me.  By  the  signature  of  the  minister  they  gave 
me  the  guarantee  that  the  religion  of  my  brethren 
was  out  of  danger;  that  I  alone  had  not  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  this  immense  task,  since  four 
rabbis  enjoying  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Jews 
were  to  assist  in  carrying  out  the  schemes  of  the 
government ;  and  that  in  case  of  the  failure  of  all 
our  calculations  I  had  many  reliable  witnesses  to 
testify  that  I  had  tried  my  best  to  ward  ofif  every 
danger,  but  that  both  the  rabbis  and  I  were  thwarted 
by  the  autocratic  and  pitiless  will  of  the  emperor. 

But  in  order  to  strengthen  my  position  I  sent  a 
copy  of  the  instructions  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Philippson, 
to  have  them  published  in  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung 
des  Jiidentlnnns  as  soon  as  I  had  come  home  from 
the  minister's  country  seat.  By  this  stratagem  I  in- 
tended to  confront  the  Russian  policy  with  the  pub- 
lic opinion  of  Europe,  assured  that  if  the  European 
press  would  hail  the  good  intentions  of  the  Russian 
government  in  behalf  of  my  brethren,  the  same  would 
not  dare  back  out,  and  make  of  the  reform  of  the 
schools  a  missionary  scheme.  At  the  same  time  I 
requested  Dr.  Philippson  to  discuss  with  the  cele- 
brated Jewish  painter,  Mr.  Oppenheim,  of  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  a  plan  for  a  picture  to  be  presented  to 
the  emperor  by  the  Jews  of  Russia,  representing 
him  as  their  benefactor.  The  Israelites  heretofore 
never  had  taken  recourse  to  any  such  plan,  while 
their  Karaite  brethren  never  had  neglected  an  oppor- 
tunity of  paying  their  homage  to  the  imperial  family, 
and  always  had  been  richly  rewarded  for  this  atten- 

334 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

tion.  I  intended  by  the  presentation  of  this  picture 
to  present  the  Jews  in  a  better  Hght,  to  prove  that 
they  were  favoring  the  educational  reforms  of  the 
government,  while  the  subject  of  the  picture  itself 
would  indicate  clearly  that  the  Jews  welcomed  the 
reforms  and  made  only  the  condition  that  their  re- 
ligion was  to  be  left  intact. 

The  next  morning  I  called  at  the  minister's  man- 
sion to  take  leave  and  to  hear  his  final  instructions. 
He  handed  me  autograph  letters  of  recommendation 
to  all  the  states  through  which  I  was  to  travel,  as 
well  as  letters  of  the  same  content  to  all  the  school 
authorities,  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, and  that  of  the  Chief  of  Police;  and  wishing 
me  every  success,  he  told  me  to  be  of  good  cheer, 
to  write  at  least  once  every  week  and  dismissed  me 
with  a  hearty  farewell. 

At  the  department  I  received  the  sum  appropriated 
for  my  traveling  expenses,  my  passports  and  im- 
perial padcroshnoi,  viz.,  an  order  to  all  the  post- 
masters to  furnish  horses  without  delay.  Having 
taken  leave  of  my  superiors  I  hurried  home,  where 
all  was  ready  for  my  departure.  Two  hours  later 
I  passed  through  the  magnificent  gate  of  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

It  was  an  exceedingly  warm  July  day.  The  sun 
was  burning  with  intense  heat,  and  the  clouds  of 
dust  were  whirling  lustily  around  the  carriage.  I 
was  alone  with  my  hopes,  fears  and  thoughts. 
I  passed  in  memory  the  days  of  agony  and  despair 
I  had  spent  in  Vilna  and  Minsk,  and  felt  very  un- 
easy when  reflecting  what  kind  of  reception  would 
await  me  on  my  return.  But  well  aware  that  I  had 
saved  my  prejudiced  brethren  from  any  fatal  conse- 

335 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

quences ;  that  I  had  done  all  in  my  power  to  give 
them  a  fair  guarantee  against  any  infringement  of 
their  creed ;  that  I  had  always  pleaded  their  cause 
and  welfare,  without  taking  notice  of  my  slandered 
and  abused  self,  I  felt  almost  assured  that  I  would 
succeed ;  and  having  recited  a  fervent  prayer  to  Him 
who  assists  us  in  all  our  good  intentions,  my  uneasi- 
ness and  fear  were  removed,  and  with  full  confidence 
I  looked  into  the  future. 

We  soon  arrived  at  the  next  station ;  but  no  sooner 
had  I  alighted  than  the  driver  cried  for  water,  one 
of  the  wheels  of  the  carriage  being  on  fire.  The 
heat  of  the  sun  and  the  swiftness  of  our  driving 
had  caused  it.  It  was  quickly  extinguished,  but  the 
repairing  caused  a  few  hours'  delay  before  I  could 
continue  on  my  way.  I  was  not  displeased  with  the 
accident,  for  during  all  my  life  I  had  noted  that 
every  enterprise  that  proceeded  without  meeting  any 
difficulties  in  its  beginning  turned  out  a  failure  in 
the  end ;  and  that  every  undertaking  that  was  thwart- 
ed by  many  impediments  in  the  beginning  at  last 
turned  out  favorably  and  surpassed  all  my  expecta- 
tions. 

The  wheel  having  been  put  in  order,  I  continued 
my  journey,  and  two  days  later  I  arrived  at  Riga. 
There  I  was  received  by  my  congregation  (I  had  not 
yet  resigned  my  office)  with  the  greatest  joy  and 
satisfaction.  They  felt  proud  that  the  man  whom 
they  had  called  from  Germany  and  chosen  as  their 
leader  was  selected  by  the  government  to  carry  out 
the  reform  for  their  greatly  neglected  brethren.  They 
ascribed  to  themselves  and  their  good  intentions  all 
the  benefit  that  was  about  to  result  from  my  mis- 
sion, and  the  few  days  I  spent  among  my  beloved 

336 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

friends  and  members  passed  in  mutual  gratification. 
The  general  meeting  of  the  congregation,  called  by 
the  Parnass,  Mr.  B.  Nachman,  passed  off  with  grand 
eclat;  and  resolutions  eulogizing  the  plan  of  the  gov- 
ernment were  unanimously  adopted. 

Having  presented  the  minister's  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  governor-general,  Count  Pahlen, 
and  having  assured  him  that  in  the  states  under  his 
jurisdiction  I  was  in  no  need  of  the  governmental 
assistance  he  was  so  kind  to  offer  me,  I  started  for 
Mitau,  the  capital  of  Kurland. 

There,  too,  my  business  was  soon  finished.  The 
Parnass,  Mr.  J.  Wagenheim,  had  made  all  prepara- 
tions, expressing  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  large 
congregation,  before  my  arrival.  I  then  set  out  for 
Vilna.  It  was  a  Thursday  forenoon  when  to  the 
astonishment  of  all  my  antagonists  I  alighted  at  the 
Jewish  hotel  of  Vilna. 

XXXV. 

No  sooner  had  I  alighted  at  my  hotel  than  the  news 
spread  like  fire  through  the  city  that  the  Datshel  had 
returned  from  St.  Petersburg,  provided  with  all  kinds 
of  official  papers  and  breathing  vengeance  against 
those  who  had  resisted  him  during  his  last  stay  in 
the  city.  I,  however,  sent  immediately  for  the  Par- 
nass, my  hypocritical  enemy,  and  after  having  ex- 
changed the  usual  questions  I  ordered  him  to  call  a 
meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  congregation  for  the 
next  evening. 

When  at  the  appointed  time  I  entered  the  vestry 
room  it  was  crowded  to  the  utmost.  The  men  looked 
gloomy  and   dismayed,   expecting  that    I   would   call 

337 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

them  to  account  for  the  harsh  treatment  I  had  ex- 
perienced at  the  hands  of  the  Jews  of  Vihia.  But 
after  taking  the  front  seat  at  the  table  I  addressed 
them  as  follows : 

"Brethren,  I  am  aware  that  you  feel  uneasy  in 
seeing  me  return  to  your  city.  Believe  me  that  I 
bear  no  grudge  against  anyone.  Even  if  some  of  my 
opponents  were  actuated  by  personal  ill  feeling,  the 
large  majority  who  refused  to  give  me  their  assist- 
ance were  prompted  by  the  praiseworthy  zeal  not  to 
see  their  religion  exposed  to  any  danger.  I  therefore 
have  pleaded  your  cause  before  the  authorities  in  the 
capital,  and  as  far  as  I  was  able  have  succeeded  in 
reconciling  our  common  cause  with  the  wishes  of  the 
emperor.  His  Majesty  has  consented  to  give  you  the 
privilege  of  electing  your  own  representatives  to  the 
Conference  of  Rabbis  to  be  convened  in  St.  Peters- 
burg; the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  has  signed 
a  document  declaring  that  our  religion  shall  be  in- 
fringed upon  in  no  way  and  manner;  but  both  being 
fully  determined  to  carry  out  the  reform  of  your 
schools,  so  long  delayed,  it  is  now  to  your  own  in- 
terest to  cease  all  opposition  and  to  support  me  with 
all  your  power.  In  order  to  prove  to  you  that  I  put 
implicit  confidence  in  your  good  sense  and  honesty,  I 
shall  hand  over  to  the  Parnass  all  the  documents  I 
have  received  in  the  department.  You  may  examine 
them,  and  tomorrow  evening  we  will  discuss  who  is 
the  man  of  your  choice  to  represent  your  cause  and 
your  interests  at  the  intended  conference." 

The  men  had  listened  attentively,  and  on  motion 
of  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  the  docu- 
ments were  immediately  read  by  the  secretary.  Their 
surprise   increased   after   every   sentence;   their   sus- 

338 


MY    TRAVEI^S    IN    RUSSIA. 

picion  vanished  after  having  heard  the  kind  expres- 
sion regarding  them  which  the  minister  had  used  in 
the  instructions ;  their  mistrust  gave  way  to  the 
warmest  acknowledgment  of  the  good  services  I  had 
rendered  to  their  cause.  They  rushed  up  to  me, 
asked  my  pardon,  shook  hands  heartily  with  me, 
bade  me  friendly  welcome,  and  assured  me  that 
henceforth  all  would  turn  in  my  favor.  The  old 
men  could  not  praise  enough  the  self-denial  and  the 
moderation  I  had  shown  in  the  transaction  of  this 
highly  important  mission ;  the  younger  ones  extolled 
the  firmness  and  perseverance  with  which  I  had  at- 
tended to  the  fulfilment  of  their  hopes;  the  Melam- 
dim  who  lurked  about  in  the  lobby  were  silenced ; 
and  we  departed  reconciled  and  good   friends. 

On  the  next  morning  the  town  talk  was  of  the 
result  of  last  night's  meeting,  the  honor  the  govern- 
ment had  conferred  on  me  by  furnishing  me  such 
all-powerful  documents,  and  the  uselessness  of  any 
further  resistance.  Caucuses  were  held  in  different 
parts  of  the  city  for  the  nomination  of  their  dele- 
gate; and  when  in  the  evening  we  met  again  the 
P amass  informed  me  that  the  man  they  had  selected 
was  Rabbi  Itzele,  the  Rosh-Yeshibah^-  of  Voloshin. 
They  requested  me  to  stay  till  after  Rosh  Hashanah 
with  them,  during  which  time  they  would  try  their 
utmost  to  make  amends  for  the  bitter  treatment  I 
had  experienced  in  their  midst,  and  would  communi- 
cate with  the  old  rabbi  whether  he  was  willing  to 
accept  the  nomination,  and  that  after  the  holidays  I 
should  set  out  for  Voloshin  to  confer  with  the  rabbi 
himself. 

*'  Head  of  the  academy. 

339 


MAX  LIL,IE;NTHAIv. 

Since  my  arrival  in  Russia  I  had  heard  a  good 
deal  of  Rabbi  Itzele.  He  was  one  of  the  Talmudical 
authorities  in  Russia,  a  man  of  great  worldly  tact 
and  experience;  a  man  of  rare  penetration,  who 
many  years  before  had  foreseen  the  intended  reforms 
and  always  advocated  the  necessity  of  sending  a  num- 
ber of  Jewish  boys  to  the  imperial  public  schools.  I 
therefore  rejoiced  at  the  selection  they  had  made, 
and  assured  them  that  if  the  rabbi  was  willing  to  go 
his  appointment  should  be  ratified  by  the  minister 
without  delay.  I  also  promised  them  willingly  to 
pass  the  holidays  with  them,  as  I  was  anxious  to 
witness  the  celebration  of  these  days  in  this  large 
Jewish  city,  and  thought  to  profit  in  all  the  other 
cities  I  had  to  pass  by  the  good  example  set  by  the 
Jews  of  Vilna. 

The  following  Sunday  was  the  first  day  of  Seli- 
choth,^^  service  to  commence  at  four  o'clock  a.  m. 
According  to  my  order,  my  host  came  already  at 
three  o'clock  to  my  room,  to  hurry  me  to  the  syna- 
gogue. I  hurried  into  the  streets,  and  what  a  strange 
spectacle  presented  inself  to  my  eyes !  An  uncommon 
noise  of  loud  steps  arrested  my  attention,  and  emerg- 
ing from  all  quarters  I  saw  persons  enveloped  in 
immense  white  clothes,  with  a  burning  light  before 
them  stepping  and  marching  in  all  directions.  I 
really  thought  that  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  had 
made  its  beginning.  Anyone  who  ever  witnessed  the 
remarkable  scene  in  the  opera,  "Robert  le  Diable," 
when  Robert  is  calling  the  nuns  from  their  graves, 
and  one  after  another  makes  her  ghastly  appearance, 
must  have  been  convinced  that  a  spectacle  of  a  sim- 

"'Days  of  supplication  during  the  month  preceding  New 
Year's  Day. 

340 


MY  Travels  in  Russia. 

ilar  kind  was  transpiring  in  the  streets  of  Vilna.  I 
stood  in  silent  expectation  waiting  for  some  of  these 
strange  manifestations  to  come  nearer  in  order  that 
I  might  be  enabled  to  distinguish  whether  they  were 
alive  or  specters.  I  soon  found  out  that  they  were 
the  pious  ladies  of  Vilna,  who  hurried  so  early  to 
the  synagogues.  Each  of  them  was  provided  with 
a  pair  of  wooden  slippers  which  made  such  an  in- 
fernal noise  on  the  pavement ;  each  of  them,  accord- 
ing to  oriental  custom,  was  enveloped  in  a  white 
linen  covering,  the  upper  end  of  which  was  fastened 
to  the  turban,  so  that  nothing  but  the  face  was  visi- 
ble. The  spectacle  of  thousands  of  women  in  the 
deep  night,  each  carrying  a  burning  lantern,  made 
me  feel  that  the  whole  city  seemed  to  be  roused  and 
to  form  a  ghostly  procession.  After  having  recov- 
ered from  my  astonishment  I  went  to  the  synagogue, 
which  was  filled  well  nigh  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

XXXVI. 

During  the  Selichoth  days  the  one  hundred  syna- 
gogues of  Vilna  were  crowded  to  the  utmost,  and 
everybody  prepared  for  the  New  Year  service.  Even 
the  business  men  stayed  in  the  morning  a  few  hours 
longer  in  the  BetJi  Hamidrash,  either  to  study  the 
Talmud  or  to  listen  to  the  lectures  usually  delivered 
there  every  morning.  In  the  evenings  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  the  merchant  and  the  tradesman,  the  aged 
and  the  youthful  assembled  in  the  numerous  places 
of  worship  to  listen  to  the  lectures  of  the  Magidim 
who  were  calling  the  attention  of  their  faithful  audi- 
ence to  the  approaching  day  of  judgment.  Though 
the  schools   had  been  closed  since  the  beginning  of 

341 


MAX  WWENTHAI,. 

Blul,  the  children  did  not  run  about  the  streets,  but 
visited  the  synagogues  with  their  parents,  as  if  the 
awe  and  reverence  of  those  days  of  repentance  had 
already  taken  hold  of  their  innocent  minds.  Alms 
were  richly  bestowed  upon  the  poor  and  needy,  the 
benevolent  institutions  were  well  supplied,  and  every 
man  seemed  to  be  resolved  upon  amending  his  ways 
as  far  as  he  was  able. 

During  the  week  the  Parnass  of  the  congregation 
received  a  letter  from  Rabbi  Itzele  of  Voloshin  stat- 
ing that  though  bent  by  old  age  he  was  willing  to 
accept  the  nomination  as  delegate  to  the  Rabbinical 
Synod  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  that  he  was  expecting 
my  visit  after  the  holidays.  I  immediately  informed 
the  minister  of  the  election  made  by  the  Jews  of 
Vilna,  and  having  read  the  letter  before  the  trustees 
I  handed  it  to  the  Parnass  to  mail  it.  This  act  en- 
tirely reinstated  me  into  their  confidence,  and  when 
on  Rosh  HasJianah  I  entered  the  synagogue  I  was 
treated  with  much  distinction.  The  seat  usually  re- 
served for  the  rabbi  was  pointed  out  to  me,  as  the 
rabbi  never  visited  the  synagogue,  reciting  his  prayers 
at  home.  I  was  called  up  to  the  reading  of  the 
Haphtarah,^*  a  distinction  granted  only  to  the  eldest 
or  most  influential  men  in  the  congregation.  Yet  I 
was  not  permitted  to  recite  it  myself,  except,  of 
course,  the  Beraclioth^^  appertaining  to  it,  because 
that  privilege  is  granted  to  none,  in  order  not  to  con- 
found the  ignorant.  On  the  second  day  during  the 
reading  of  the  Law  I  was  invited  to  come  out  into 
one  of  the  vestry  rooms  of  the  synagogue,  where  the 
oldest  benevolent  society  of  Vilna — a  highly  respected 

^*  The  prophetical  section. 
•*  Benedictions. 

342 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

and  revered  body — were  calling  up  their  members  to 
the  Law.  I  was  invited  to  read  a  portion  of  the 
Bible,  an  honor  considered  by  the  Jews  equal  to  the 
Grand  Cordon  of  one  of  the  European  orders.  After 
that  I  was  called  to  the  synagogue  of  the  late  Rabbi 
Elijahu  Gaon,  another  of  the  holy  places  in  Vilna,  to 
witness  the  ceremony  of  the  blowing  of  the  Shofar. 
The  rabbi  during  his  lifetime  had  ordered  that  no 
cabalistical  prayer  whatever  be  recited  in  the  service 
of  his  synagogue,  and  this  command  is  still  strictly 
observed.  Without  reciting  any  prayer  calling  upon 
angels,  the  Shofar  is  blown  and  thus  the  ceremony 
ended. 

During  the  two  holidays  I  was  visited  and  invited 
by  the  most  prominent  members,  who  gave  me  all 
kinds  of  advice  and  begged  me,  when  returning  from 
my  journey  to  St.  Petersburg,  to  visit  their  congre- 
gation again,  when  they  would  convene  the  most  in- 
fluential rabbis  of  the  neighboring  states  either  to 
Vilna  or  to  Minsk,  to  have  a  conclusive  conference 
before  the  starting  of  the  delegates  to  the  capital.  I 
agreed  to  that  proposition,  but  begged  of  the  trus- 
tees to  hand  me  a  document  in  writing  expressing 
their  satisfaction  with  the  proposed  alterations.  I 
told  them  to  forward  it  immediately  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, in  order  to  remove  the  prejudice  raised  against 
them  by  their  former  opposition.  The  paper  was 
promised  to  be  handed  to  me  on  the  following  Sat- 
urday, as  I  intended  to  leave  on  Saturday  night. 
They  promptly  complied  with  their  promise,  and  ac- 
companied by  their  best  wishes  and  after  having 
taken  a  hearty  farewell,  I  left  at  midnight  for  Volo- 
shin. 

I   arrived   in   Voloshin   on    Sunday    afternoon   at 

343 


MAX  UUIvNTHAI,. 

three  o'clock.  It  is  an  unimportant  little  town,  de- 
rivinj^  {he  support  of  its  inhabitants  from  the  large 
number  of  Jewish  students  who  attend  the  renowned 
Jcsliibah.  Being  market  day  the  streets  were  ex- 
ceedingly lively,  and  accosting  the  first  Jew  whom  I 
met,  I  told  him  to  show  me  to  the  house  of  Rabbi 
Itzele.  "Are  you  the  Datshe  Rof?"  was  the  ques- 
tion addressed  to  me  by  a  hundred  bystanders ;  and 
when  answering  in  the  affirmative,  I  saw  fifty  of 
them  running  away  in  the  direction  of  the  rabbi's 
lodgings  to  inform  him  of  my  arrival.  My  driver 
followed  them,  and  five  minutes  afterwards  I  alight- 
ed at  the  rabbi's  house. 

I  was  received  by  his  son-in-law.  Rabbi  Lebele,  a 
man  of  some  thirty  years,  and  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated Talmudists  in  Russia.  After  having  given  me 
a  hearty  "Shalom  Alec Ji em,"  he  excused  his  father- 
in-law  for  not  coming  out  of  the  house  himself,  as 
he  was  somewhat  indisposed. 

I  entered  the  rabbi's  room.  As  he  wished  to  re- 
ceive me  in  style,  he  had  put  on  his  large  hat,  and 
having  taken  his  stick  into  his  hands  came  to  meet 
me  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  He  was  a  man  of 
some  sixty  years  of  age,  rather  corpulent,  with  white 
hair  and  beard,  sharp  eyes  and  a  large  forehead.  His 
countenance  showed  an  unusually  mild  and  benevo- 
lent temper ;  sad  and  bitter  experience  seemed  to 
have  added  a  large  share  of  wise  lessons  to  his  nat- 
ural ingenuity,  and  his  kind  heart  taught  him  how 
to  forgive  all  the  slander  and  abuse  heaped  upon  him 
by  a  large  number  of  envious  and  jealous  men.  He 
spoke  the  German,  Russian  and  Polish  languages 
very  fluently,  and  though  unacquainted  with  the  lit- 
erature  of    any   of    these   languages,    he    understood 

344 


MY    TRAVE;I,S    in    RUSSIA. 

very  well  that  the  reform  of  the  schools  could  be 
delayed  no  longer,  and  though  feeling  somewhat  un- 
easy about  the  fate  that  might  befall  his  Jeshibah, 
when  these  reforms  would  be  carried  out,  he  never 
hesitated  to  recommend  an  alteration  of  the  educa- 
tional system. 

"Welcome,  doctor,"  he  addressed  me.  "I  am  happy 
to  see  you.  I  hope  you  will  honor  us  with  your  visit 
till  after  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  thus  we  will 
have  time  enough  to  discuss  together  all  the  import- 
ant subjects  now  under  consideration.  But  now  you 
are  tired.  Make  yourself  at  home.  Partake  of  the 
hearty  dinner  which  I  ordered  prepared  for  you  in 
your  German  style.  I  will  then  show  you  my  Jeshi- 
baJi,  and  in  the  evening  we  will  take  a  walk  to- 
gether." 

The  dinner  was  soon  served,  and  then  the  rabbi 
invited  me  to  say  grace.  "You  pronounce  the  He- 
brew like  a  proselyte,"  he  remarked  smilingly  when 
I  had  finished  the  prayer.  "I  never  knew  that  the 
difference  between  the  German  and  Polish  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  is  so  striking;  but  though  you 
read  it  like  a  proselyte,  I  consider  you  a  truly  good 
Jew,  having  the  welfare  of  his  people  at  heart,  and 
making  every  effort  to  promote  their  prosperity." 

I  thanked  the  rabbi  for  his  indulgence  towards  my 
humble  efforts,  but  begged  him,  instead  of  compli- 
menting my  undertaking,  rather  to  give  me  his  sound 
and  impartial  advice.  "I  know  but  too  well,"  I  con- 
tinued, "all  the  difficulties  that  are  awaiting  me  when 
I  shall  come  amongst  the  Chassidim,  and  being  en- 
tirely unacquainted  with  their  customs  and  manners, 
you  would  do  me  a  great  service  by  giving  me  that 


345 


MAX  LILIENTHAL. 

information  which  would  assist  me  in  overcoming  the 
threatening  obstacles." 

"Do  not  be  too  hasty;  not  all  at  once.  We  have 
plenty  of  time  to  look  after  these  affairs.  Be  of 
good  cheer,  and  with  the  assistance  of  God  all  will 
turn  out  right.  Come  now  and  I  will  show  you  the 
Jeshibah." 

The  Jeshibah  was  in  an  immense  building  opposite 
the  rabbi's  house.  His  father,  Chajim,  had  started 
the  institution.  Being  poor  himself,  he  had  appealed 
to  the  liberal  and  generous  feelings  of  his  coreligion- 
ists for  donations,  and  his  appeal  had  been  liberally 
responded  to.  In  every  city  of  Russia  where  Jews 
were  living  collectors  were  appointed  to  receive  the 
annual  subscriptions ;  messengers,  sent  by  the  rabbi, 
were  dispatched  yearly  to  all  the  congregations  to 
raise  the  sums  required  for  the  support  of  the  in- 
stitution ;  and  the  amounts  collected  were  so  large 
that  the  rabbi  was  enabled  not  only  to  erect  the  nec- 
essary buildings  and  to  buy  the  required  books,  but 
also  to  support  some  three  hundred  students  at  his 
own  expense.  During  the  lifetime  of  the  founder,  who 
enjoyed  the  highest  reputation  as  a  scholar  and  a  man 
among  his  coreligionists,  the  institution  was  in  the 
most  flourishing  condition.  Students  from  all  parts 
of  Russia  visited  the  Jeshibah  to  listen  to  the  excel- 
lent lectures  of  the  prominent  rabbi.  His  pupils  oc- 
cupied almost  all  the  rabbinical  chairs  in  the  northern 
provinces  and  were  all  men  of  talent  and  learning. 

"But  time  and  circumstances  have  changed  might- 
ily," said  Rabbi  Itzele.  "The  donations  do  not  come 
in  any  more  as  freely  as  heretofore.  It  requires  all 
my   energy,   perseverance   and   economy  to  keep   the 


346 


MY  Travels  in  russia. 

institution  going,  and  sometimes  I  am  really  at  a 
loss  how  to  continue  it." 

"What  large  monument  is  this?"  I  interrupted  the 
rabbi  when  passing  the  cemetery,  and  perceiving  a 
curious  kind  of  a  building. 

"It  is  the  grave  of  my  late  father.  I  built  this 
wall  around  it.  It  is  covered  with  a  copper  roof  in 
order  that  the  eternal  light,  burning  under  the  roof, 
might  not  be  extinguished.     Let  us  go  in,  doctor!" 

We  went  in,  and  I  felt  struck  with  awe  and  rev- 
erence. At  the  head  of  the  grave  stood  the  tomb- 
stone with  the  usual  inscription ;  from  the  roof  was 
pending  a  burning  oil  lamp ;  on  both  sides  of  the 
wall  were  almsboxes,  richly  filled  by  the  visitors, 
and  a  holy  and  earnest  tranquility  reigned  all  around. 
The  rabbi,  upon  entering,  leaned  against  the  wall  and 
stood  for  some  minutes  in  silent  and  earnest  medi- 
tation. I  did  not  interrupt  him  till  he  himself  began 
saying:  "Oh,  doctor,  these  were  great  and  good 
men.  Their  time  is  gone.  God  knows  what  will  be 
next !" 

We  left  and  turned  to  the  building  of  the  Jeshihah 
without  continuing  the  conversation  for  some  time. 
"There  are  not  many  students  here  at  present,"  said 
the  rabbi.  "Most  of  them  have  gone  home  for  the 
holydays." 

XXXVII. 

"During  the  year,"  continued  the  rabbi,  "we  have 
here  in  our  Jeshihah  from  two  to  three  hundred  stu- 
dents. They  come  from  almost  every  quarter  of  the 
northwestern  provinces ;  but  the  south,  where  Chas- 
sidism  has  taken  fast  hold  of  our  brethren,  sends  a 

347 


MAX  UURNTHAL,. 

very  limited  number.  I  myself  am  already  too  old  to 
give  the  regular  lessons ;  my  son-in-law,  Rabbi  Lebele, 
an  eminent  Talmudist  and  a  young  man  of  great 
talents,  is  charged  with  the  task." 

"What  is  the  order  of  lessons  you  pursue  in  your 
Jcshibah?" 

"We  have  prayers  in  the  morning  as  early  as  pos- 
sible; all  the  students  have  to  be  present  during  the 
service.  After  the  service  I  explain  to  them  some 
chapters  of  the  Sidrah  of  the  week,  and  the  Haphta- 
rah  with  the  commentary  of  Rashi,  adding  some  free 
explanations  of  my  own,  into  which  I  interweave 
some  remarks  from  the  commentary  of  Mosheh 
Dessau  (Mendelssohn).  Then  the  students  have  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  regular  Shiur  (section 
of  the  Talmud),  which  is  explained  to  them  from 
ten  to  twelve  o'clock  by  Rabbi  Lebele.  In  the  after- 
noon they  study  for  themselves  till  Mine  hah,  when 
they  are  instructed  in  the  Poskim  (Codes  of  Jewish 
Laws).  After  supper  they  continue  their  private 
studies  till  after  midnight,  some  of  them  remaining 
in  the  JesJiibah  all  night,  sleeping  upon  the  hard 
benches  in  the  rooms." 

We  continued  our  walk  and  were  soon  at  the  doors 
of  the  JesJiibah.  It  was  a  spacious  stone  building 
containing  several  large  halls  in  which  the  students 
were  studying.  The  furniture  was  of  the  most  ordi- 
nary description.  Rough  long  tables  surrounded  by 
barren  wooden  benches,  some  long  shelves  filled  with 
a  large  Hebrew  library,  an  Aron  Hakodesh  with  a 
few  Siphre  Tor  ah,  and  a  pulpit  for  the  reader,  was 
all  the  furniture  within  these  halls.  About  twenty 
or  thirty  BaeJiurim  were  present.  Some  rose  and 
coming  up  to  me  gave  me  the  usual  Shalom  Aleehem; 

348 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

others  sitting  at  their  Gemarahs  continued  in  their 
study,  swaying  their  bodies  forwards  and  backwards. 

"It  is  time  for  Minclia  prayer,"  said  the  rabbi,  and 
all  of  them  closing  their  volumes  prepared  them- 
selves for  the  service.  The  rabbi  put  on  the  large 
hat  which  he  usually  wore  for  the  Jarmeke  (little 
black  velvet  cap)  is  not  considered  a  sufficient  head 
covering  for  reading  the  service.  After  the  first 
Kaddish,  before  the  Shemone  Bsreh,  when  all  pres- 
ent had  already  begun  to  say  their  prayer,  the  rabbi, 
having  stood  for  some  time  in  earnest  meditation, 
began  to  sob  three  times  very  loudly.  He  was  used 
to  do  this  daily  before  the  prayer.  It  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  all  the  hearers  to  see  the  old  and 
venerable  man  during  the  service.  Without  shaking 
his  body,  without  shouting  and  screaming,  like  most 
of  the  Polish  Jews  do,  he  stood  there  sunk  into 
deepest  devotion,  enveloped  in  his  large  Talith,  tears 
dropping  down  his  cheeks,  and  his  black  eyes,  beam- 
ing with  intelligence,  directed  towards  heaven. 

After  prayer,  having  participated  in  a  hearty  sup- 
per, I  was  invited  by  the  rabbi  to  take  a  walk  out 
of  the  village  with  him  and  his  son-in-law.  It  was 
a  fine  autumn  evening  and  the  old  man  seemed  to 
relish  the  fresh  air.  He  was  enraptured  with  the 
beauties  of  nature,  applied  to  them  the  masterly 
descriptions  of  the  Psalmist,  and  his  remarks  con- 
vinced me  that  he  was  far  superior  to  many  of  his 
coreligionists.  The  others,  absorbed  in  their  studies 
or  their  business,  were  entirely  unmindful  of  all  that 
pertains  to  the  province  of  esthetics ;  but  this  man, 
though  living  with  the  simplicity  of  a  patriarch,  and 
never  having  enjoyed  the  means  of  obtaining  a 
worldly  education,  was  gifted  by  nature  with  a  talent 

349 


MAX  LILISNTHAI,. 

for  all  that  is  good,  right  and  beautiful.  After  hav- 
ing left  the  precincts  of  the  village,  and  being  sure 
that  we  were  out  of  the  reach  of  any  unwelcome 
listener,  he  began  to  converse  with  me  about  my 
mission.  I  gave  him  a  full  statement,  and  having 
solicited  his  sincere  cooperation  I  begged  him  to  as- 
sure me  at  once  that  he  would  accept  the  nomination 
as  delegate  to   St.   Petersburg. 

"Certainly,  sir,"  he  replied,  "I  shall  go.  I  wrote 
to  that  effect  to  my  friends  in  Vilna,  and  shall  make 
all  preparations  to  that  end.  But  you  must  not  sup- 
pose, doctor,  that  all  the  Jews  are  putting  implicit 
confidence  in  my  views.  They  suspect  me  of  leaning 
towards  some  reform,  of  favoring  the  schemes  of 
the  government. 

"I  have  a  great  many  enemies,  though  they  do  not 
dare  to  avow  their  animosity  openly.  They  envy  my 
position  as  chief  of  this  Jcshihah,  though  I  assure 
you  it  is  not  to  be  envied  at  all.  The  collections 
and  donations  do  not  come  in  any  longer  as  liberally 
as  heretofore,  and  I  am  worried  how  to  provide  for 
all  the  poor  scholars  who  flock  to  this,  the  only  seat 
of  Talmudical  learning  in  Russia." 

"But  how  do  you  overcome  all  the  difficulties?" 

"By  patience,  doctor,  and  forbearance.  And  this 
is  the  golden  rule  I  am  giving  you  in  behalf  of  your 
mission :  'You  must  prepare  yourself  for  the  great- 
est indulgence  and  leniency  if  you  aim  at  success.' 
Both  with  the  Russian  government  and  our  brethren 
you  can  not  succeed  by  pressing  matters  to  extremes. 
Time  is  the  best  assistant  we  can  possibly  have ;  time 
and  patience  will  remedy  every  evil.  Lately  I  was 
visited  by  a  wealthy  man  from  Reussen.  He  had  a 
grudge   against    me,    I    do    not   know    why,    and    in- 

350 


MY    TRAVEI<S    IN    RUSSIA. 

suited  me  in  the  presence  of  my  family  in  the  most 
severe  terms.  I  invited  him  to  follow  me  into  my 
private  study.  When  there  he  continued  the  conver- 
sation in  the  same  strain.  I  hurried  out  of  the  room, 
locked  the  door  behind  me,  and  left  him  alone  with 
his  anger  and  his  excitement.  He  began  to  curse 
and  to  abuse  me,  but  it  was  of  no  avail;  he  was 
locked  in,  and  had  plenty  of  room  and  leisure  to 
give  vent  to  his  bad  feelings.  After  a  few  hours  he 
became  more  composed  and  begged  with  the  most 
friendly  words  to  be  released  from  his  prison.  Hav- 
ing perceived  that  he  had  cooled  down,  I  entered  the 
room  and  began  to  reason  and  to  argue  with  him. 
My  calmness  influenced  him  to  listen  to  argument, 
and  when  he  left  the  place  we  parted  as  reconciled 
friends.  This  is  the  only  way  and  manner  in  which 
you  can  deal  with  our  Russian  people." 

During  the  succeeding  days  I  spent  in  his  com- 
pany he  posted  me  about  the  most  influential  persons 
I  would  meet  on  my  journey.  Being  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  state  of  Jewish  afifairs  throughout 
Russia,  he  was  able  to  give  me  a  store  of  true  infor- 
mation which  I  could  get  nowhere  else,  and  I  felt 
highly  gratified  at  having  come  to  this  little  borough. 
On  the  eve  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  he  kept  him- 
self secluded  in  his  private  study.  I  did  not  see  him 
till  before  Minchah,  when  he  invited  me  to  follow 
him  to  the  Mikveh,^^  but  having  heard  that  all  the 
Bachurim  and  other  inhabitants  had  used  the  same 
during  the  forenoon,  I  most  respectfully  declined  his 
offer. 

Long  before  sunset  the  Jeshibah  was  crowded  to 

"  Bath. 

351 


MAX  UUENTHAi,. 

the  Utmost,  everyone  being  anxious  to  listen  to  the 
Derashah  of  the  beloved  rabbi.  He  soon  made  his 
appearance,  and  in  the  Russian-German  jargon  began 
his  sermon.  The  whole  audience  followed  the  dis- 
course with  the  utmost  attention,  and  many  an  eye 
was  filled  with  sincere  tears  when  the  venerable  rabbi 
in  glowing  words  exhorted  them  to  true  repentance, 
rebuking  any  hypocritical  or  conventional  celebration 
of  the  holy  day.  In  the  midst  of  his  sermon,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Polish  Darshanim,  he  gave 
the  following  parable: 

"There  was  once,"  he  said,  "a  wealthy  count.  He 
was  accustomed  to  live  isolated  on  his  estates,  and 
hence  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  worldly  afifairs. 
Once  he  resolved  upon  setting  out  and  visiting  the 
neighboring  city.  He  stopped  in  one  of  the  large 
hotels,  where,  looking  out  of  the  window,  he  en- 
joyed watching  the  different  and  strange  scenes  of 
city  life.  Accidentally  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  city; 
the  bells  were  rung,  and — as  is  still  today  customary 
in  Germany — drummers  passed  through  the  streets 
summoning  the  firemen  and  citizens  to  the  place  of 
conflagration.  Having  never  seen  or  heard  of  a 
drum,  and  being  soon  informed  that  the  fire  had 
been  put  out,  the  count  thought  that  by  the  means 
of  the  drum  the  flames  had  been  extinguished.  He 
therefore  ordered  one  of  his  attendants  to  buy  so 
useful  an  instrument,  and  having  been  put  in  pos- 
session of  a  drum  he  hurried  home,  happy  and  con- 
tented. Soon  afterwards  a  fire  broke  out  in  his  own 
castle,  but  instead  of  ordering  his  servants  to  use  the 
water  buckets  he  ordered  his  drum  to  be  brought, 
and  began  to  beat  it  mercilessly.  But  of  course  all 
his  drumming  was  of  no  avail ;  water  not  having  been 

352 


MY   TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

applied  to  the  fire,  the  castle  was  burned  down. 
Thus,"  remarked  the  rabbi,  "it  is  with  men ;  on  the 
holiest  Day  of  Atonement  they  appear  in  the  House 
of  God  with  the  intention  of  beating  their  breasts, 
without  shedding  the  tears  of  sincere  repentance. 
This  beating,  brethren,  is  of  no  avail.  The  flames 
of  your  sins  will  consume  your  soul;  nor  will  tears 
extinguish  the  wild  fire  of  lust  and  transgression 
that  devours  your  passionate  hearts." 

The  holy  day,  as  usual,  was  passed  in  prayer  and 
fasting,  and  on  the  next  evening,  before  dismissing 
the  congregation,  he  blessed  all  the  members  of  his 
family  and  all  the  Bachurim.  I  also  begged  him  to 
give  me  his  blessing,  and  after  having  pronounced 
the  usual  formula,  he  continued  in  Hebrew :  "May 
the  Lord,  the  faithful  Guardian  of  Israel,  send  His 
angels  on  your  way,  and  may  you  return  into  our 
midst  healthy  and  of  good  courage !" 

On  the  following  day  I  made  my  preparations  for 
setting  out  for  Minsk,  where  I  intended  to  pass  the 
Succoth  festival. 

xxxvni. 

The  news  of  my  arrival  spread  rapidly  through 
the  city  of  Minsk.  Though  the  inmates  of  the  Beth 
Hamidrash,  my  principal  opponents,  had  not  yet  be- 
come reconciled  to  the  state  of  affairs,  they  were 
shrewd  enough  not  to  show  their  inimical  feelings 
openly.  Private  letters  from  their  congenial  corre- 
spondents in  Vilna  had  informed  them  of  the  con- 
tents of  my  ofificial  documents,  represented  to  them 
the  leniency  and  forbearance  with  which  I  had  treated 
my  former  antagonists,  told  them  of  the  reconcilia- 


I 


353 


MAX  ULIENTHAIv. 

tion  that  had  taken  place  between  me  and  the  officers 
of  the  congregation,  and  advised  them  to  remain  neu- 
tral and  delay  their  opposition  to  a  time  that  prom- 
ised more  success  and  effect  than  the  present.  They 
therefore  kept  silent,  though  watching  with  a  scru- 
tinizing eye  every  movement  I  made,  every  word  I 
uttered.  My  friends,  however,  at  the  head  of  whom 
were  Mr.  Susele  Rappoport  and  Rabbi  J.  M.  Jeshu- 
run,  quite  enraptured  with  the  success  I  had  ob- 
tained, requested  me  to  be  of  good  cheer,  as  during 
Cliol-Hammoed  I  would  surely  be  put  in  possession  of 
a  document  signed  by  all  the  leading  members  of  the 
congregation  and  expressing  their  willingness  to  sub- 
mit readily  to  the  command  of  the  government. 

I  therefore  passed  the  holydays  rather  agreeably. 
Marks  of  honor  and  distinction  were  poured  upon 
me  by  all  classes  and  on  all  occasions.  I  was  invited 
to  be  godfather  of  more  than  thirty  children,  all  of 
whom  were  named  after  me.  The  congregational 
meeting  was  largely  attended,  and  when,  without  any 
mistrust  whatever,  I  handed  my  important  docu- 
ments to  the  trustees  for  examination,  as  a  mark  of 
confidence  and  reconciliation,  resolutions  approving 
my  plans  were  passed  unanimously,  and  a  copy 
for  transmission  to  St.  Petersburg  presented  to  me 
on  the  following  day.  Yea,  even  the  Chassidim,  who 
heretofore  had  abstained  from  any  communication 
with  me,  at  last  came  forward  to  participate  in  the 
general  demonstration. 

As  early  as  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Sim- 
chat  Torah  a  deputation  called  on  me  to  see  me.  I 
was  still  fast  asleep  when  my  servant  Getz,  a  Polish 
Jew,  and  the  most  faithful  creature  under  God's 
heaven,  of  whom  more  hereafter,  came  into  my  room 

354 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

to  awake  me,  stating  that  some  Polish  Jews  urgently 
requested  to  be  admitted.  I  thought  some  misfor- 
tune had  occurred,  and,  as  had  happened  several 
times  since  my  departure  from  St.  Petersburg,  they 
had  come  to  beg  for  my  interference  with  the  offi- 
cials. I  hurried,  therefore,  out  of  bed,  and  stepping 
into  the  room  in  which  two  old  and  fine-looking  men 
were  waiting  for  me,  I  addressed  them :  "Brethren, 
what  is  the  matter?  What  brings  you  here  so  early? 
Can  my  services  be  of  any  use  to  you?"  "We  are 
the  Gabaim  of  the  Chassidim-Stuebel  (synagogue  of 
the  Chassidim),"  they  replied,  "and  have  been  depu- 
ted by  our  members  to  beg  you  to  accept  the  Mitzvah 
of  Chathan-Torah^'^  in  our  Stuebel.  Fearing  lest 
some  other  congregation,  by  offering  you  the 
same  Mitzvah,  would  deprive  us  of  the  intended 
honor,  we  come  rather  early  and  hope  that  you  will 
not  refuse  us."  I  expressed  my  sincere  thanks  for 
this  unexpected  mark  of  attention,  and  as  I  had 
promised  to  be  in  the  Beth  Hamidrash  during  Sha- 
charit,  I  requested  them  to  send  for  me  before  the 
beginning  of  Keriath  Hatorah.  Highly  pleased  with 
my  acceptance  of  their  ofifer,  they  assured  me  that 
it  would  do  me  a  great  deal  of  good  when  the  Chas- 
sidim of  the  neighboring  states  would  be  informed 
of  my  having  been  Chathan-Torah  in  their  syna- 
gogue. 

At  nine  o'clock  two  messengers  from  the  Stuebel 
appeared  in  the  Beth  Hamidrash  summoning  me 
thither.  I  followed  them  and  was  introduced  to  the 
congregation,  which  was  awaiting  my  arrival.  The 
room  was  not  a  very  large  one;  the  pews  stood  in 

*'  Bridegroom  of  the  law. 

355 


MAX  UUBINTHAL,. 

the  greatest  disorder  along  the  walls  and  round  the 
Bimah;  the  Aron  Hakodcsli,  though  quite  large,  was 
made  of  wood.  Some  old  men,  enveloped  in  their 
Talitli,  came  to  meet  me,  while  about  twenty  young 
men  had  taken  their  places  upon  the  Bimah  to  ac- 
company, with  wild  clapping  of  hands  and  confused 
melodies,  the  usual  circuit  with  the  Torah.  I  was 
offered  a  Talith  and  requested  to  recite  the  first  verse 
of  the  prayer  that  is  said  before  the  opening  of  the 
Hechal.  They  seemed  well  pleased  with  my  reading, 
and  expressed  their  satisfaction  with  the  courtesy 
with  which  I  yielded  to  their  customs,  which  were 
entirely  strange  to  me.  Some  of  the  old  men,  having 
taken  the  Seforim  out  of  the  Ark,  made  then  the 
first  circuit  round  the  Bimah.  The  procession  then 
stopped,  while  the  three  oldest  men,  in  front  of  the 
Ark,  entwined  their  right  arms  and  began  to  dance 
in  the  most  enthusiastic  manner;  the  choir  upon  the 
Bimah  accompanied  them  with  wild  clapping  and  the 
singing  of  a  profane  melody  in  which  all  the  mem- 
bers present  joined.  There  was  general  mirth  and 
confusion,  but  not  without  sincere  devotion.  They 
were  dancing  in  imitation  of  King  David  (who  is 
reported  to  have  danced  before  the  Holy  Ark),  and 
enjoying  the  feast  of  the  Torah,  according  to  their 
eccentric  views,  in  the  most  effective  and  glorious 
style.  The  circuits  and  dances  were  repeated  three 
times ;  the  Seforim  put  back  in  the  Hechal,  and  then 
the  oldest  among  them  accosted  me,  asking  how  I 
liked  this  ceremony.  I  answered  him  that  I  never 
had  witnessed  anything  like  it  before,  that  I  was  too 
little  acquainted  with  their  system  and  their  peculiar 
notions  to  form  an  opinion,  but  that  anyhow  I  was 
pleased  to  see  them  happy  and  contented. 

356 


MY   TRAVEI^S    in    RUSSIA. 

The  service  then  continued,  and  after  a  very  large 
number  of  members  had  been  called  to  the  Thorah, 
I  was  invited  to  finish  the  reading  of  the  Pentateuch 
as  Chathan  Tor  ah.  When  the  reading  was  finished 
the  sexton  came  up  to  the  Bimah  and  presented  me, 
the  reader,  and  the  Gabai  with  a  large  cup  of  brandy, 
which  was  drunk  to  my  health.  I  begged  to  be  ex- 
cused, having  not  yet  made  sufftcient  progress  in  the 
art  of  enjoying  alcohol ;  but  my  request  was  of  no 
avail.  It  was  one  of  the  honors  and  privileges  of 
the  Chathan-Torah  to  drink  the  health  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  I  was  compelled  to  comply  with  their 
wishes.  Chathan-BeresJiith  was  treated  in  the  same 
way,  and  mirth  and  frolic  were  continually  on  the 
increase.  I  left  the  service  soon  after,  rather  bewil- 
dered with  the  strange  and  new  impressions. 

My  host,  Mr.  Rappoport,  was  anxiously  awaiting 
my  return  from  the  Stuehcl,  and  at  dinner  we  had 
a  lively  discussion  about  the  future  prospects  of  this 
new  Jewish  sect  which  was  spreading  rapidly  through- 
out the  southern  and  western  provinces  in  which  the 
Jews  are  permitted  to  live.  They  were  beginning  to 
gain  a  foothold  even  in  the  northeastern  provinces, 
which  heretofore  had  remained  free  of  this  fanatical 
sect ;  and  their  Talmudical  opponents,  the  Misnag- 
dini,  were  highly  displeased  with  the  intrusion  of 
these  sectarian  eccentricities. 

In  the  afternoon  I  was  invited  to  attend  a  party 
given  by  Mr.  Lurie,  the  ChatJian-Torali  of  the  Beth 
Hamidrash.  All  the  rabbis  and  Talmudical  authori- 
ties had  been  invited ;  the  officers  and  other  influen- 
tial members  of  the  congregation  were  present;  some 
Jewish  improvisators  or  "Marshalliks"  were  in  at- 
tendance,   who    by    their    ingenuous    wit    applied    to 

357 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

Bible  and  Talmud,  held  the  company  in  a  continuous 
uproar  of  laughter,  and  finally  the  cantor  with  his 
assistants  regaled  the  party  with  his  best  Yomini- 
Noroim-Niganim.'^^  Wine,  brandy  and  sweets  were 
served  in  abundance,  and  towards  evening  the  Samo- 
var (tea  machine)  was  brought  in  and  then  the 
mirth  and  frolic  were  renewed  in  style.  The  Rus- 
sian never  feels  happy  unless  he  has  champagne  or 
tea ;  as  the  Jews  drink  no  champagne,  considering  it 
to  be  Nesech,'^^  they  regale  themselves  with  tea,  of 
which  they  drink  at  least  ten  or  twelve  glasses  a 
day.  And  the  tea  was  excellent,  indeed ;  its  flavor, 
which  tea  retains  only  when  transported  by  land, 
but  loses  when  carried  on  ship,  spread  through  the 
rooms  and  exhilarated  the  whole  company.  The 
Marshalliks,  being  in  higher  spirits,  renewed  their 
fun  and  wit ;  the  Lamdim  exhibited  a  store  of  new 
Torah ;  the  Gewirim  (rich  men)  sent  for  more  wine, 
and  the  Simchath  ThoraJi^^  was  celebrated  with  all 
becoming  ceremonies. 

Shortly  before  midnight  I  left  the  company,  hurry- 
ing home  tired  and  fatigued  by  the  exertions  of  the 
day.  No  sooner  had  I  alighted  than  a  new  kind  of 
serenade  was  brought  to  me.  The  Chassidim  assem- 
bled before  the  house  en  masse,  and  in  honor  of 
their  Chathan-Torah  began  to  sing  and  dance,  to 
shout  and  to  enjoy  themselves  in  their  own  fashion. 
Being  better  acquainted  with  their  customs  than  my- 

"*  Melodies  used  on  the  great  days,  New  Year  and  the 
Day  of  Atonement. 

*°  Forbidden  wine. 

"The  Day  of  Rejoicing  in  the  Law;  a  holiday  celebrated 
the  day  after  the  Feast  of  Conclusion  (the  closing  day  of 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles). 

358 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

self,  my  host  sent  down  to  them  all  the  brandy  and 
cakes  he  had  in  the  house.  Cheer  upon  cheer  en- 
sued, till  all  the  bottles  were  emptied;  continuing 
their  visits  to  the  houses  of  some  other  friends,  they 
departed  highly  pleased  with  the  Datsch-Rebbi,  who 
had  treated  and  entertained  them  with  so  much 
courtesy. 

BYAIvYSTOK    AND    BREST-LITOVSK. 

XXXIX. 

Having  been  handed  the  required  documents  by 
the  trustees  of  the  congregation  expressing  their 
readiness  to  support  the  plan  of  the  government,  and 
having  promised  on  my  part,  after  my  travels 
through  the  different  provinces  to  return  to  Minsk, 
where  a  council  of  the  most  influential  members  of 
Lithuania  should  be  convened  for  the  purpose  of 
coming  to  a  final  understanding  before  the  departure 
of  the  delegates  to  St.  Petersburg,  I  left  Minsk, 
reconciled  with  a  portion  of  my  enemies,  greatly  en- 
couraged by  the  success  I  had  obtained,  and  without 
having  met  any  opposition  at  the  hands  of  my  si- 
lenced enemies. 

By  the  advice  of  some  of  my  friends,  I  had  en- 
gaged a  Jewish  servant  to  accompany  me  on  my 
journey.  Being  obliged  sometimes  to  travel  day  and 
night  before  reaching  a  city  in  which  I  had  to  stop, 
it  was  rather  tedious  to  be  awakened  four  or  five 
times  during  one  night  to  pay  for  the  horses  and  to 
have  my  passport  recorded  at  every  postoffice.  By 
the  assistance  of  a  faithful  servant,  to  whom  I  could 
entrust  these  matters,  I  was  told  that  I  could  sleep 

359 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

quietly  in  my  carriage,  without  troubling  myself  with 
such  trifles.  The  name  of  my  servant,  who  was  rec- 
ommended to  me  as  a  faithful,  honest,  young  man, 
was  Getz,  and  truly  a  more  devoted  soul  I  never  met 
with.  Dressed  in  his  long  Schuhetse  and  in  his  lamb 
fur,  he  sat  with  the  driver  watching  all  his  move- 
ments, that  no  accident  should  befall  us.  He  took 
charge  of  my  wardrobe,  and  with  more  minuteness 
than  any  good  housekeeper  kept  it  always  in  perfect 
order.  I  handed  him  my  money,  and  where  and 
whenever  he  could  save  a  penny,  he  felt  as  happy 
as  if  he  had  made  the  greatest  bargain  for  himself. 
When  we  came  among  the  Chassidim,  who,  it  was 
falsely  rumored,  had  said  that  they  would  try  to 
poison  me,  he  tasted  all  the  victuals  before  they 
were  served.  When  people  in  the  different  places 
besieged  me  with  their  requests  and  advices,  without 
paying  any  regard  to  old  age,  influence  or  wealth,  at 
the  appointed  hour  he  stepped  into  the  room,  ordered 
me  to  go  to  bed,  and  dismissed  the  people  in  order 
that  the  continuous  fatigue  might  not  undermine  my 
health.  I  was  so  accustomed  to  put  such  implicit 
confidence  in  his  tried  fidelity  that  I  was  entirely 
under  his  control,  leaving  to  him  the  full  manage- 
ment of  my  private  affairs. 

We  started  from  Minsk  for  Byalystok.  This  city 
is  beautifully  located,  the  seat  of  the  provincial  gov- 
ernment, and  inhabited  by  a  great  many  Jews.  But 
they  enjoy  neither  the  reputation  for  learning  of 
those  in  Vilna,  nor  the  independent  spirit  of  those 
in  Minsk.  They  are  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  com- 
mercial and  industrial  pursuits,  and  take  no  import- 
ant part  in  public  Jewish  affairs.  I  experienced  no 
opposition    whatever.      The   man    of    paramount   im- 

360 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

portant  influence  is  Itzele  Sabludowski.  Being  of 
poor  parents  and  no  education,  by,  indomitable  will 
and  persevering  energy  he  has  acquired  an  indepen- 
dent fortune.  Trading  in  lumber,  which  he  exports 
to  foreign  countries  or  provides  to  all  kinds  of  gov- 
ernmental buildings,  he  is  known  throughout  the  em- 
pire and  greatly  respected  by  all  the  officers.  He  has 
built  for  himself  a  palace  which  would  be  an  orna- 
ment to  the  finest  quarter,  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain 
in  Paris.  I  was  shown  through  a  long  line  of  the 
finest  apartments,  luxuriously  furnished,  and  deco- 
rated with  paintings  and  all  kinds  of  unnecessary 
ornaments.  But  I  was  quite  bewildered  when  I  en- 
tered his  concert-salon.  It  was  furnished  with  the 
whitest  and  richest  marble,  embellished  with  excel- 
lent statues,  rich  chandeliers,  beautiful  curtains  and 
the  finest  sofas  and  chairs.  I  could  not  believe  that 
the  Polish  Jew,  with  his  long,  brown  beard,  with  his 
Schubetse  and  fur  cap,  with  his  broken  jargon,  was 
indeed  the  proprietor  of  this  modern  and  princely 
mansion.  I  am  sure  that  neither  the  Rothschilds  nor 
the  Pereiras  or  any  other  of  the  moneyed  aristocracy 
has  a  salon  arranged  with  more  taste  and  splendor 
than  my  Jewish  host  in  Byalystock.  He  told  me 
that  having  visited  the  watering  places  in  Germany, 
he  had  seen  many  of  the  finest  establishments  of  this 
kind,  and  when  he  returned  from  his  journey  he 
saved  neither  trouble  nor  expense  to  imitate  the  best 
in  true  and  becoming  style. 

I  was  treated  in  a  princely  manner  in  his  house, 
where  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  all  the  well-edu- 
cated members  of  his  family,  and  of  his  daughter-in- 
law,  a  born  Klatczko,  of  Vilna,  who  was  one  of  the 
renowned  beauties  in  Lithuania.     He  thought  a  great 

361 


MAX  LILlENTHAIy. 

deal  of  her,  and  was  pleased  in  seeing  his  palace 
embellished  with  this  beauty. 

In  the  afternoon  he  introduced  me  to  the  governor 
and  other  high  officers  of  the  state,  who  kindly  of- 
fered me  their  services,  but  I  declined  them  most 
respectfully,  as  I  met  with  no  opposition  whatever. 
The  example  given  by  the  congregations  of  Vilna 
and  Minsk,  and  the  agreeable  tidings  that  Rabbi 
Itzele  of  Voloshin  had  accepted  the  nomination  as 
delegate  having  made  a  good  impression,  resolutions 
were  passed  unanimously  in  favor  of  my  plan  at  the 
general  meeting  of  the  congregation  and  the  required 
documents  were  willingly  handed  to  me  for  remittal  to 
St.  Petersburg. 

I  started  a  few  days  afterwards  for  Brest-Litovsk. 
It  is  the  last  city  in  the  western  provinces  where  the 
Talmudists  are  in  the  majority  and  exercise  an  effi- 
cient influence  against  the  doings  of  the  Chassidini. 
1  was  well  received  by  the  congregation  of  that  place. 
The  young  men,  imbued  with  a  better  spirit  and 
mostly  well  bred,  tried  their  best  to  entertain  me  as 
well  as  possible.  They  introduced  me  to  the  com- 
mander of  that  mighty  fortress,  who  appointed  one 
of  his  officers  to  show  me  the  nouveautees  in  town. 
They  entertained  me  very  agreeably  also  in  the  eve- 
ning, but  when  taking  leave  of  me  (I  departed  early 
in  the  morning)  many  of  them  could  not  restrain 
their  tears.  They  expressed  their  uneasiness  that 
they  entertained  but  a  faint  hope  of  seeing  me  again, 
and  had  apprehensions  of  my  future  ill  luck,  as  I 
was  now  entering  provinces  chiefly  inhabited  by 
Chassidim.  They  begged  me  to  be  very  careful  when 
tasting  my  meals,  as  I  should  be  mindful  of  the  aw- 
ful fate  of  the  Rev.  A.  Kohn,  who  had  been  pois- 

362 


MY    TRAVELS    IN    RUSSIA. 

oned  in  Lemberg,  and  entreated  me  to  stop  nowhere 
on  the  road,  but  to  hasten  to  Dubno,  and  to  remain 
in  that  place  over  Sabbath,  Dubno  being  inhabited 
by  a  more  enhghtened  class  of  Jews  than  the  sur- 
rounding cities ;  besides  some  families  resided  there 
who  were  inspired  by  a  better  spirit  than  the  ma- 
jority of  the  fanatic  and  bigoted  Chassidim.  I  was 
deeply  moved  and  passed  a  sleepless  night,  yet  my 
courage  revived  when  in  the  morning  my  carriage 
with  four  horses  drove  up  to  the  house  I  occupied. 
Before  I  continue  the  extracts  from  my  traveling 
diary,  I  will  give  the  reader  a  description  of  the 
numerous  and  remarkable  sect  of  the  Chassidim, 
their  origin,  customs  and  manners.'^^ 

"This  closes  Dr.  Lilienthal's  published  account  of  his 
travels  in  Russia.  All  trace  of  his  diary  which  he  mentions 
here  has  been  lost.  This  is  indeed  regrettable,  as  this  sketch 
of  travels  of  which  we  possess  only  the  fragment  here  repro- 
duced is  not  only  interesting  and  fascinating,  but  gives  a 
fine  presentation  of  Jewish  life  in  Russia  at  the  time. 


363 


LETTERS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


365 


THE   SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 


LETTERS  AND  ADDRESSES. 

LETTERS  ON  REFORM 
ADDRESSED  TO  THE  REV.  I.  LEESER. 

I. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 

Cincinnati,  Nov.  24,  1856. 

In  the  last  number  of  your  valuable  Occident  you 
have  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  to  me  for  a  contest  on 
the  Principles  of  Reform.  I  willingly  take  it  up.  You 
are,  in  our  opinion,  a  champion  worthy  of  our  utmost 
attention  and  fully  able  to  defend  his  conservative 
principles ;  an  Israelite  who,  as  sincerely  as  we  on  the 
other  side,  has  at  heart  only  the  welfare  of  our  holy 
religion,  its  future  success  and  prosperity.  All  these 
personal  qualities  will  render  the  contest  as  inter- 
esting to  the  combatants  as  it  is  useful  to  the  readers, 
who  after  having  heard  both  parties  will  be  sufficiently 
enlightened  to  give  an  impartial  verdict. 

You  will  agree  with  me  (for  matters  of  fact  can 
not  be  contested)  that  Reform,  nowadays,  has  gained 
so  much  ground  that  it  can  not  be  haughtily  overlooked 
nor  indignantly  disregarded.  It  has  become  one  of 
the  important  questions  of  the  day,  claiming  our  sin- 
cere consideration  and  earnest  attention.  It  penetrates 
into  the  council  of  French  Grand  Rabbis,  extends  its 
dominion  in  England  (Burton-Street  Synagogue  and 
Manchester),  though  still  under  the  excommunication 

367 


MAX  UUlvNTHAT,. 

of  the  late  Chief  Rabbi,  Dr.  Herschel;  it  governs 
with  potent  sway  in  Germany,  its  native  country.  It 
is  imported  into  America,  claiming  the  rights  of  ac- 
knowledgment, and,  in  the  whole  civilized  world,  has 
become  a  mighty  factor,  the  influence  of  which  can 
not  be  warded  off  either  by  taking  no  notice  of  it,  or 
by  heaping  slander,  calumny  and  suspicion  on  its  fol- 
lowers. 

Nor  can  we  despise  and  decry  it  as  the  offspring 
of  license  or  atheism,  for  it  numbers  in  its  ranks  men 
of  the  highest  standing  in  the  community,  known  for 
their  charitable  disposition,  respected  for  their  un- 
blemished character  in  private  life,  revered  for  every 
virtue  that  distinguishes  them  as  citizens  and  mem- 
bers of  society,  and  men  whose  piety  and  morality 
no  one  will  doubt,  eminent  for  their  learning  and 
proficiency  in  Jewish  and  common  literature.  Men 
who  have  brought  and  are  ready  to  bring  any  sacri- 
fice for  the  good  cause  of  religion  are  among  its 
leaders,  are  its  most  able  champions,  and  by  action 
try  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  their  religious  opinion. 

Nor  can  we  nickname  the  process  of  Reform  "a 
child  of  religious  indifference,"  for  never  was  the 
Jew,  through  all  the  layers  of  society,  more  proud  of 
his  religion  and  less  unwilling  to  give  it  up  than  in 
our  times.  The  innumerable  efforts  made  to  restore 
the  synagogue  to  its  original  glory,  to  establish  Jewish 
charitable  and  educational  institutions  on  a  large 
scale,  to  raise  the  Jewish  name  in  every  department 
of  human  society  to  its  proper  standard,  prove  more 
than  sufficiently  that  religious  indifference  is  not  at 
the  root  of  Reform,  and  that  other  causes  are  pro- 
ducing those  astonishing  effects.  Not  as  forty  years 
ago  does  the  Jew  wish  to  Christianize  his  life  and 

368 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  the;  AGE. 

religion,  but  struggles  to  make  it  respected  in  itself 
so  that,  recognized  at  its  proper  value,  it  may  com- 
mand the  respect  of  the  civilized  world. 

Nor  can  you  call  it  only  a  fleeting  and  temporary 
process  that,  swept  away  by  the  rolling  waves  of  time, 
will  leave  no  other  trace  but  an  unsavory  memory. 
Steadily  and  perseveringly  it  has  pursued  its  onward 
march  since  the  days  of  Mendelssohn,  uprooting  the 
most  obstinate  prejudices,  abolishing  the  most  in- 
veterate customs,  changing  the  most  endeared  opin- 
ions. Its  continuous  work  is  felt  everywhere ;  its 
signal  defeat  is  no  longer  foretold  with  the  same 
certainty  as  heretofore,  and  concessions  are  made  to 
the  young  giant  in  every  quarter.  If  it  is  to  be  fairly 
understood,  we  must  endeavor  to  comprehend  its 
origin,  its  laws  and  its  aims,  in  order  to  learn  how  to 
use  and  how  to  handle  this  new  lever  in  our  history. 

But  in  order  to  obtain  this  clear  and  fair  under- 
standing, we  must  be  clear  as  to  the  difference  of 
principles  from  which  we  start.  You  deny  to  Reform 
any  legitimate  and  justified  existence.  Instead  of 
searching  after  the  historical  causes  that  produced 
these  manifestations  of  our  time,  you  nickname  the 
whole  process  a  mere  effervescent  action  of  some 
irreligious  individuals,  or  a  fashionable  change  of 
the  divine  service,  or  the  demands  of  some  half- 
educated  atheists,  or  the  declamations  of  some  ego- 
tistical infidels.  If  your  assertions,  in  any  way  or 
shape,  could  be  maintained,  you  certainly  would  be 
in  the  right;  for  on  such  a  foundation  no  permanent 
structure  could  be  erected. 

But  we  take  quite  a  different  view  of  the  pending 
question.  We  call  the  process  of  Reform  "the  spirit 
of  the  age,  the  proper  and  just  demand  of  our  time." 

369 


MAX  UUENTHAU 

We  see  in  it  no  principle  of  infidelity,  no  ephemeral 
manifestation  of  atheism,  no  concessions  made  to 
everchanging  fashion,  but  the  legitimate  and  logical 
consequence  of  the  ideas  that  are  governing  all  the 
departments  of  our  social  life,  and  from  the  influence 
of  which,  religion,  its  highest  province,  can  not  escape. 
And  these  ideas,  representing  "the  spirit  of  the  age" 
date  their  origin  not  from  today  or  yesterday,  but 
their  natural  and  historical  origin,  growth  and  con- 
tinuous development,  with  great  certainty  and  logical 
consequence  can  and  have  to  be  traced  through  the 
past  periods  of  history.  For  history  is  no  fragment, 
but  merely  a  series  of  logical  causes  and  effects.  The 
history  of  every  nation  is  influenced  and  influences 
that  of  other  nations ;  by  this  mutual  action  and  re- 
action the  work  of  universal  history  is  performed. 
The  spirit  of  universal  history  will  be  reflected  in 
that  of  every  nation  just  as  the  specific  history  of  the 
latter  can  be  discovered  in  the  great  complex  of  his- 
tory. And  only  by  searching  after  this  historical  co- 
operation, by  comprehending  it  in  this  its  connection 
between  the  past,  present  and  future,  will  we  be  en- 
abled to  understand  and  appreciate  the  meaning  and 
importance  of  "the  spirit  of  the  age,"  and  be  pre- 
vented from  condemning  it  with  the  most  slanderous 
superficiality.  Hence,  I  invite  you  to  a  historical  and 
philosophical  investigation  of  this  spirit. 

If  then  we  question  what  was  the  "spirit  of  the 
age"  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  in  Jerusalem 
up  to  1815,  i.  e.,  the  age  in  which  the  Jews,  driven 
from  their  seclusion  in  Palestine,  came  in  contact 
with  the  nations  of  Europe,  of  the  age  in  which  the 
Catholic  Church  celebrated  its  period  of  unrivaled 
victories,  in  one  word,  what  was  the  spirit  of  the  mid- 
370 


the;  spirit  ob*  the  age;. 

die  ages,  we  must  answer:  the  absolute  supremacy 
of  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  clergy,  and  in  order 
to  maintain  it  the  absolute  subjugation  of  reason  and 
free  investigation  under  the  yoke  of  fixed  and  un- 
changeable dogmatic  rules. 

Since  its  acknowledgment  as  the  religion  of  the 
state  by  Constantine  the  Great ;  since  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  Supreme  Pontiff  by 
Valentinian  and  Gratian ;  since  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  superiority  of  the  clergy  over  all  worldly  power 
and  government  by  Justinian,  the  Catholic  Church 
had  understood  very  well  to  make  all  worldly  affairs 
dependent  upon  the  clerical  government,  and  to  use 
the  worldly  power  for  its  own  interest  and  glorifica- 
tion. All  was  done  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  the 
church,  ad  majorem  Dei  ecclesiaeque  gloriam,  and  in 
order  to  maintain  this  supremacy,  false  to  the  inten- 
tion of  the  founder  who  had  given  no  dogma,  the 
Catholic  Church  issued  an  entire  and  complete  creed, 
the  least  doubt  in  the  infallibility  of  which  was  de- 
clared heresy,  and  pimished  with  all  the  might  at  the 
disposal  of  the  mother  church.  The  study  of  the 
Bible  was  prevented,  free  investigation  considered 
the  devil's  work,  historical  investigation  prohibited, 
and  the  blindest  faith  in  the  authority  of  the  church 
doctrines  most  strictly  enacted  and  required.  Reason 
with  its  divine  and  eternal  functions  was  discharged ; 
science,  the  results  of  which  came  in  conflict  with 
the  established  principles  of  the  church,  had  to  suffer 
at  the  stake  and  the  rack  ;  any  free  movement  was  con- 
sidered to  be  a  revolution  against  the  clerical  and 
worldly  governments  instituted  Dei  gratia;  and  the 
natural  result  of  all  these  causes  was  on  one  hand 
absolute  intellectual  stagnation,  and  on  the  other  hand 

371 


MAX  UUENTlIAIv. 

the  impossibility  of  a  lasting  existence  of  such  a  state 
in  open  contradiction  to  the  higher  law  of  God. 

Jewish  contemporary  history  is  the  reflex  of  the 
spirit  of  the  age.  It  is  true  that  the  rabbis  can  not 
be  accused  of  hierarchical  ambition  or  frivolous 
licentiousness  like  the  priests  of  that  time,  for  they 
were  poor,  powerless  and  the  patterns  of  morality 
and  of  piety.  It  is  still  more  true  that  a  well-digested 
and  well-planned  intention  of  subjugating  and  dis- 
charging the  functions  of  reason  and  free  investiga- 
tion can  not  be  imputed  to  the  rabbis,  the  principal 
actors  of  the  medieval  drama,  for  they  established  free 
schools  in  every  quarter  of  their  exile,  and  declared 
instruction  and  learning  to  be  an  imperative  religious 
duty.  It  also  can  not  be  contested  that  among  the 
Jews  the  learning  of  the  clergy  and  the  ignorance  of 
the  large  masses  was  never  intended;  for  the  books 
of  Scripture  and  rabbinical  literature  were  open  to 
everyone;  and  every  father  as  well  as  every  congre- 
gation was  religiously  bound  to  have  the  children  of 
the  rich  and  the  poor  instructed;  hence  it  certainly 
can  not  be  denied  that  the  Jewish  history  of  those 
times  far  transcends  that  of  the  coeval  and  coexist- 
ing nations ;  a  difference  which  I  acknowledge  with 
pride  and  satisfaction.  But  in  spite  of  this  diamet- 
rical difference  the  result  of  the  medieval,  intel- 
lectual history  of  the  Jews  favored  entirely  the  uni- 
versal "spirit"  of  those  times  by  which  it  was  influ- 
enced and  shaped:  and  this  result  reached  the  cli- 
max, both  affirmatively  and  negatively,  in  the  works 
of  the  renowned  Rabbi  Moses  ben  Mainion. 

The  entire  study  was  made  subservient  to  religion, 
and  the  Talmud,  though  a  complex  of  theology,  medi- 
cine, anatomy,  jurisprudence,  etc.,  is  the  result  of  the 

372 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 

intellectual  work  of  that  time.  A  canon,  like  the 
canon  law  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  was  begun  by  Alfasi, 
and  brought  into  form  and  shape  by  Maimonides  in 
his  Jad  Hachasaka,  though  the  Talmud  had  never  in- 
tended such  a  final  conclusion  of  the  system.  Not 
unlike  the  dogmas  of  the  church,  a  creed  was  sketched 
and  formed  by  the  same  Maimon  in  his  "thirteen 
articles",  and  though  strongly  opposed  by  Albo  and  his 
followers  was  adopted  by  the  majority  and  recognized 
as  the  standard  by  which  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Jews 
had  to  be  tested.  But  when,  after  having  enslaved 
the  principles  of  free  investigation  and  confined  them 
within  a  narrow  limit  of  dogmatic  theology,  the  same 
rabbi  attempted  to  free  them  from  the  fetters  which 
he  himself  had  imposed  on  them,  his  Moreh,  by  which 
this  end  was  to  be  attained,  was  burned  at  the  stake, 
and  the  authority  of  blind  faith  and  the  faith  in  estab- 
lished authority  were  fully  reinstated  and  secured. 

The  consequences  were  the  same  as  in  the  Catholic 
world — complete  intellectual  stagnation  degenerating 
into  cabbalistical  mysticism  or  the  most  subtile  and 
resultless  polemics.  The  absurdities  of  scholasticism 
and  its  method  of  dialectical  reasoning  found  an  echo 
in  Jewish  literature ;  the  spirit  of  the  medieval  age 
had  achieved  the  victory,  and  subjugated  the  Hebrew 
province  too. 


373 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

II. 

THE  SPIRIT  OE  THE  AGE. 

Cincinnati,  Dec.  4,  1856. 

I  hope,  dear  sir,  we  will  have  entered  the  lists  sine 
ira  et  studio.  I  respect  every  man  who  uses  his  in- 
tellectual powers  to  the  perfection  of  his  conviction, 
though  the  results  of  this  reasoning  may  widely  differ 
from  those  I  have  reached.  "Such  convictions,"  says 
Heine,  "are  individual  sanctuaries ;  by  virtue  of  them 
the  educated  man  rises  above  the  surface  of  daily 
life,  distinguishing  himself  visibly  from  the  mass  be- 
low him  that  comfortably  join  all  those  who  save  them 
the  troublesome  business  of  thinking." 

I  concluded  in  my  last  with  the  remark,  that  "the 
spirit  of  the  middle  ages"  had  to  give  way  to  "the 
spirit  of  the  succeeding  age,"  that  dates  from  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  and  extends  to  the  French 
Revolution.  We  perceive,  thereby,  such  a  mighty 
change,  such  a  wide  difference  "of  the  spirit  of  the 
ages,"  that  there  is  no  room  left  for  entertaining  the 
least  doubt,  that  "the  spirit  of  the  age"  is  not  a 
visionary  imagination  in  the  heads  of  some  fantastic 
or  eccentric  individuals.  No,  we  have  to  grant  that 
it  has  some  substantial  reality,  the  influence  of  which 
can  neither  be  underrated  nor  warded  off  by  the 
ostrich  policy  to  take  no  notice  of  it.  We  perceive 
that  the  march  of  the  human  race  is  steadily  onward, 
tending  to  a  higher  degree  of  development,  and  that 
neither  the  clerical  nor  the  worldly  power  is  strong 
enough  to  retard  the  turn  of  the  mighty  wheel.  Ac- 
tion will  set  it  in  motion,  and  reaction — which  we  are 
used  to  regard  as  retrogression — is  nothing  but  rest 

374 


I 


THE    SPIRIT   OF   THE   AGE. 

from  exhaustion,  during  which  period  the  spirit  of 
the  human  race  is  gathering  new  strength  for  a  fur- 
ther progressive  step.  There  are  always  some  great 
and  glorious  "ideas"  at  the  bottom  of  the  motions 
forming  the  character  of  human  history.  They  are 
the  manifestations  of  the  new  spirit,  and  that  of  the 
Reformation  differs  so  entirely  from  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding age  that  its  existence  and  reality  can  be  denied 
in  no  wise. 

Having  been  prepared  by  the  taking  of  Constanti- 
nople, that  sent  Greek  science  and  literature  into  the 
western  part  of  the  continent,  by  the  invention  of 
gunpowder,  that  annihilated  the  ridiculous  superiority 
claimed  by  bodily  strength,  by  the  invention  of  print- 
ing, that  made  the  purchase  of  books  accessible  to 
all  classes  of  society,  and  by  the  unwillingness  of 
princes  (Henry  VHI  of  England  and  Louis  the  Ba- 
varian) longer  to  submit  to  the  arbitrary  government 
of  the  pope ;  having  been  accelerated  by  the  disunion 
in  the  Roman  councils,  by  the  universally  acknowl- 
edged necessity  of  a  reform  of  the  church  in  its  head 
and  members,  and  by  the  abuses  of  church  privileges, 
sanctioned  by  the  magnificent  Pope  Leo,  the  spirit  of 
the  age  took  shape  and  form  in  the  manly  and  stout 
appearance  of  Luther.  With  the  ninety-nine  theses 
he  nailed  to  the  gates  of  the  university  of  Witten- 
berg, he  nailed  and  doomed  to  ruin  the  principles  of 
popish  supremacy.  Out  of  the  fire  in  which  he  burned 
the  pope's  bill  of  excommunication  and  the  canon  law, 
he  ordered  the  human  intellect  to  rise  like  a  new-born 
phoenix;  and  in  the  pamphlet  he  addressed  ''to  the 
Christian  nobility  of  the  German  nation,"  he  uttered 
the  remarkable  words :  "Written  laws  are  under 
the  control  of  reason,"  and  "at  all  and  every  time 

375 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

reason  must  dictate  what  is  law,  and  remain  itself  the 
supreme  law  and  the  source  of  all  right." 

This  reinstalment  of  reason  and  intellect  into  its 
natural  and  divine  right,  and  its  deliverance  from  the 
yoke  and  bondage  of  inherited  authority,  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing character  of  the  "spirit  of  the  age."  Its 
natural  consequences  were  the  removal  of  blind  faith 
in  a  priest's  dictates ;  the  critical  examination  of  ev- 
ery pretended  authority ;  a  free  investigation  of  the 
Bible,  and  an  unexpected  revival  of  all  knowledge 
and  science. 

The  Jewish  rabbis  of  that  time  with  their  usual 
sagacity  at  once  understood  the  importance  of  that 
movement ;  they  called  it  "a  portion  of  the  Messiah ;" 
they  comprehended  well  that  when  the  Catholic 
Church  was  once  forced  to  become  false  to  its  prin- 
ciples of  religious  intolerance — for  she  knew  but  of 
a  conversion,  and  not  of  a  legal  acknowledgment  of 
her  opponents — the  morning  of  a  time  improving  the 
Israelites'  political  condition  was  dawning,  and  hence 
in  their  isolated  ghettos  they  hailed  the  spirit  of  the 
Reformation  as  sincerely  as  the  Protestants. 

But  they  had  not  the  least  foreboding,  not  the  least 
idea  of  the  influence,  this  religious  movement  in 
course  of  time  would  exercise  on  their  own  religious 
views  and  sentiments.  They  did  not  dream  that  the 
spirit  of  the  Reformation  that  had  battered  such  a 
formidable  breach  into  the  fortified  structure  of  the 
Catholic  Church  would  do  the  same  with  all  other 
denominations  as  soon  as  it  was  entirely  understood, 
and  had  taken  root  in  the  consciousness  of  men.  They 
had  first  to  be  politically  admitted  into  human  society 
before  the  spirit,  moving,  shaking  and  tossing  the 
same,  could  reach  them.     They  were  still  too  much 

376 


THE   SPIRIT   OF  THE  AGE. 

secluded  from  the  political  arena  of  the  world  to  be 
influenced  by  the  great  drama  that  was  performed 
there. 

In  their  dark  and  gloomy  abodes,  into  which  the 
sun  could  not  shed  its  golden  rays  of  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion, the  Jews  were  allowed  to  remain  for  another 
century  under  the  government  of  the  spirit  of  the 
middle  ages.  It  required  some  time  before  the  Chris- 
tian world,  overbusy  with  its  own  affairs,  could  find 
leisure  for  directing  its  attention  to  the  Jews.  "The 
good,"  says  Arndt,  "shall  not  achieve  its  victory  as 
quickly  as  the  flight  of  the  human  thought  desires,  in 
order  that  it  may  coalesce  the  more  closely  with  the 
entire  man."  Both  the  literature  and  legislature  of 
Europe  had  to  experience  a  radical  change,  before 
"the  spirit  of  the  age"  could  manifest  its  effects  on 
our  coreligionists. 

But  if  history  should  not  prove  false  to  itself,  the 
principles  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  founded  on 
the  innate  and  inalienable  right  of  reason,  had  to  ex- 
tend its  influence  over  the  province  of  every  denomi- 
nation in  the  course  of  time,  and  with  logical  conse- 
quence did  the  best  "Protestant"  authors  of  Germany 
fulfil  this  mission  toward  the  Jews.  Lessing  in  his 
Nathan,  The  Fragments  of  Wolfenbitttel,  and  the 
Education  of  the  Human  Race,  Herder  in  all  his  num- 
erous classical  works,  Dohm  in  his  renowned  Memo- 
randum, Klopstock  in  his  Ode  to  the  Emperor  Joseph, 
and  Kant  in  his  philosophical  writings,  advocated  the 
principles  of  religious  liberty,  not  only  in  behalf  of 
the  human  race  in  general,  but  especially  in  behalf  of 
the  Jews ;  and  by  the  dispensation  of  the  world-gov- 
erning Providence  two  of  the  most  liberal  minded 
princes  the  world  ever  saw  were  sitting  on  two  of  the 

377 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

mightiest  thrones  of  Europe,  to  approve  and  to  con- 
firm by  their  legislative  power  the  demands  of  science 
and  reason.  Frederick  of  Prussia  and  Joseph  of 
Austria  are  the  immortal  names  that  achieved  the 
religious  emancipation  of  the  Jews. 

But  as  all  written  charters  and  laws  are  of  but  very- 
little  effect,  if  they  are  not  rooted  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  finding  therein  their  origin  and  their  echo, 
these  steps  taken  by  literature  and  legislature  would 
have  proved  to  be  of  but  very  little  avail,  if  "the 
spirit  of  the  age"  would  not  have  begun  its  glorious 
work  among  the  Jewish  people  itself ;  and  the  same 
all-kind  Providence  that  had  awakened  these  liberal 
sentiments  among  the  Christian  nations  at  the  same 
time  gave  to  the  Jewish  people  their  Mendelssohn, 
with  the  public  activity  of  whom  the  spirit  of  the 
Reformation  was  introduced  into  the  Jewish  life. 

Mendelssohn  was  no  reformer,  and  his  best  philos- 
ophical writings  can  not  be  quoted  as  an  authority  in 
behalf  of  Reform.  Mendelssohn  was  to  the  succeed- 
ing Jewish  Reform  what  the  taking  of  Constantinople 
had  been  to  the  Christian  Reformation.  It  banished 
ignorance,  extended  the  sphere  of  science  beyond  the 
limits  of  theology,  prepared  the  human  mind  for  a 
free  use  of  all  intellectual  powers  and  leveled  the  bar- 
riers that  prevented  the  Jew  from  free  intercourse 
with  his  Christian  fellow  citizen.  The  prohibition  to 
read  and  study  the  ^ItiJS  nsnta  was  abolished ;  the 
system  of  education  and  instruction  that  had  been 
confined  to  the  study  of  the  Talmud  and  rabbinical 
literature,  soon  changed  into  a  complete  accommoda- 
tion to  that  of  the  European  system;  the  old  ideas 
and  forms  began  to  give  way  to  new  ones,  thereby 


378 


THE   SPIRIT   OF"   THE   AGE. 

preparing  the  way  for  another  change  that  was  re- 
quired by  the  "spirit  of  the  succeeding  age." 

This  movement  of  introducing  the  Jews  into  the 
brotherhood  of  universal  civiHzation — a  movement 
approved  of  nowadays  by  every  person  of  enUghtened 
mind,  be  he  reformer  or  conservative — at  the  time  of 
Mendelssohn  and  his  school,  was  condemned  with  the 
same  indignation  with  which  your  party  in  our  time 
condemns  the  principles  of  Jewish  Reform.  Ban 
and  excommunication  and  all  other  means  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Jewish  rabbis  were  used  against  the 
great  man ;  the  most  passionate  controversy  was  car- 
ried on  against  his  German  translation  of  the  Bible 
and  his  other  writings,  and  Judaism  was  declared  to 
be  in  the  most  imminent  danger.  But  the  spirit  of 
the  age  could  be  neither  subdued  nor  silenced  by  an- 
tiquated ideas  and  fanatic,  unreasoning  outcries.  The 
spirit  continued  its  victorious  march  onwards,  seal- 
ing the  fate  of  the  opponents,  and  its  wholesome  in- 
fluence is  now  gratefully  acknowledged  by  every  Jew- 
ish heart.  Mendelssohn  has  won  the  laurel  of  im- 
mortality ;  the  names  of  his  opponents  have  sunk  into 
deserved  oblivion. 

But,  dear  sir,  as  all  the  ideas  forming  the  moving 
springs  of  history  are  absolute,  while  man's  life  and 
actions  are  confined  within  the  limited  sphere  of  time 
and  space,  so  is  human  history  as  a  whole  a  continu- 
ous process  of  freeing  itself  from  the  deficiency  of 
the  latter,  a  continuous  progress  of  an  unceasing  re- 
form, and  a  never-stopping  development  to  a  higher 
degree  of  perfection.  As  soon  as  history  has  reached 
one  point,  it  detects  the  inherent  deficiency  and  strives 
to  remedy  it  by  a  new  effort.  It  takes  centuries  be- 
fore mankind  wins  an  accurate  consciousness  of  that 

379 


MAX  UUIvNTlIAL. 

which  is  needed.  It  reveals  itself  in  the  beginning 
as  a  mere  latent  "sentiment ;"  it  progresses  and  grows 
then  to  a  clear  and  distinct  "idea ;"  and  by  means  of 
a  peaceable  or  bloody  revolution  "as  action"  becomes 
then  the  property  of  the  human  race. 

This  truism  is  proved  by  the  "spirit  of  the  age" 
that  succeeded  that  of  the  Reformation,  and  by  the 
influence  of  which  our  present  life  in  every  direction 
is  shaken  to  its  very  foundation. 

III. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 

Cincinnati,  Dec.  10,  1856. 

You  will  excuse  these  historical  precursory  digres- 
sions. Though  not  aiming  directly  at  the  point  at 
issue,  I  can  not  do  without  them  if  I  want  to  prove 
the  one  cardinal  point,  that  you  are  entirely  wrong  in 
ascribing  the  present  movement  of  Jewish  Reform  to 
a  mere  temporary  invention  of  some  eccentric  heads, 
and  not  on  the  contrary  to  the  logical  consequence  of 
"the  spirit  of  the  age,"  in  which  we  are  living. 

The  spirit  of  our  age  tries  to  realize  still  more  com- 
pletely than  the  preceding  one,  and  in  every  direction 
of  life,  the  ideas  originated  and  engendered  by  the 
Reformation.  It  was  prepared  by  the  still  unsur- 
passed Esprit  des  lois  of  Montesquieu  and  the  num- 
erous writings  of  the  Encyclopedists  in  France,  and 
Kant  and  his  followers  in  Germany ;  and  when  Rous- 
seau began  his  campaign  against  the  corruption  of 
his  time,  and  Voltaire  derided  the  priestly  deception 
of  Rome  and  the  divine  right  of  royal  despotism  con- 
structed thereon,  and  Lafayette  returned  from  Amer- 

380 


THE    SPIRIT   OF   THE   AGE. 

ica  with  the  golden  fleece  of  a  free  constitution — 
then  was  born  the  new  spirit  of  the  supreme  govern- 
ment of  reason,  of  the  innate  and  inalienable  right 
of  men  that  still  today  is  only  in  its  glorious  infancy. 

Now  began  the  age  of  revolution.  The  commanded 
belief  in  any  traditional  authority,  clerical  or  political, 
was  dethroned,  and  a  furious  contest  began  between 
established  right  and  custom,  and  the  ''demands  of 
the  time."  The  first  pointed  to  their  old  books  and 
titles ;  the  latter  refused  to  acknowledge  any  his- 
torical necessity  in  contradiction  with  the  highest 
ideas  of  truth  and  justice.  This  contest,  continued 
now  openly,  now  secretly,  is  still  going  on  with  all  its 
might,  creating  all  the  present  uneasiness  in  Europe ; 
and,  in  spite  of  all  the  Machiavellian  machinations  of 
priests,  kings  and  nobles  there  will  be  concluded  no 
definite  peace  before  truth  and  reason  have  been  fully 
reinstated  in  their  divine  right. 

Both  you  and  I  acknowledge  gratefully  the  change 
this  spirit  has  wrought  in  the  political  and  social  con- 
dition of  our  brethren,  for  it  was  the  birthday  of  our 
emancipation.  You  hail  with  me  the  glorious  morn- 
ing which  reduced  to  ridiculous  nothingness  the 
nightly  specters  of  fanatical  prejudices,  and  broke 
down  the  barriers  that  separated  man  from  man. 

But  you  deplore  the  influence  this  spirit  has  exer- 
cised on  our  religious  life;  you  complain  of  the 
breach  it  has  battered  in  the  belief  in  tradition ;  you 
condemn  the  free  inquiry  that  comes  in  opposition 
to  established  customs.  You  like  the  cause,  but 
disapprove  of  its  efifects ;  nay,  you  would  approve  of 
them  as  far  as  they  affect  our  political  condition,  but 
refuse  them  any  title  as  soon  as  they  approach  the 
province  of  religion. 

381 


MAX  UUENTHAL,. 

This  illogical  proceeding  on  your  part  is  too  strik- 
ing to  need  any  refutation.  Natural  or  historical 
causes  will  and  must  produce  their  legitimate  effects, 
and  it  is  beyond  the  reach  of  any  human  power  either 
to  control  or  to  destroy  them.  We  Reformers,  there- 
fore, perceive  in  the  process  of  Jewish  Reform  noth- 
ing but  a  legitimate  offspring  of  the  spirit  of  our  age, 
and  find  therein  the  true  reflex  of  all  the  elements 
pervading  our  present  society.  As  in  all  the  other 
departments  of  human  knowledge  a  critical  school  has 
been  established,  winnowing  the  chaff  from  the  corn, 
thus  in  Jewish  literature,  too,  by  the  eminent  writ- 
ings of  Rapoport  and  Zunz,  a  critical  school  has 
been  organized  that  deprives  many  a  revered  head  of 
his  halo  and  many  a  statute  book  of  its  authenticity 
or  legal  authority.  As  in  all  the  other  branches  of 
science  a  historical  and  a  rational  school  are  contend- 
ing for  the  correctness  of  their  views,  thus  in  the 
Jewish  province,  too,  by  Geiger  and  a  host  of  others, 
the  same  contest  has  been  called  into  existence.  As 
in  the  Christian  religion  numerous  sects,  and  espe- 
cially the  German  Catholics,  have  sprung  up,  to  break 
wdth  the  medieval  spirit  of  the  militant  church,  and  to 
establish  another  one  fit  for  the  united  brotherhood 
of  reasoning  mankind,  thus  in  the  synagogue,  too. 
Reform  has  been  instituted  to  break  down  medieval 
power  and  to  accomplish  the  prophet's  words :  "My 
house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  peoples." 
Having  thus  stated  the  supreme  difference  of  our 
opinions,  permit  me  to  draw  the  following  conclu- 
sions, the  correctness  of  which  you  can  not  deny: 

1.  The  spirit  of  the  age  is  not  as  you  have  re- 
peatedly stated  in  your  valuable  Occident,  the  pro- 
duction of  some   frivolous,  irreligious  and  eccentric 

382 


THE   SPIRIT  OF  THE  AGE. 

minds,  but  is  founded  on  the  natural  development  of 
history,  as  effected  under  the  guidance  of  divine 
Providence,  and  has  a  true  substance. 

2.  Being  thus  justified  before  the  tribunal  of  rea- 
son, our  religious  life  in  its  totality  has  to  undergo 
the  same  critical  trial  and  to  experience  the  same  revo- 
lutions as  all  other  departments  of  our  society,  if 
Judaism  shall  not  remain  behind  the  movements  of 
the  time,  and 

3.  That  the  influence  of  this  spirit  can  not  be 
warded  off  either  by  taking  no  notice  of  it  or  by 
condemning  and  underrating  it,  but  by  reconciling  the 
demands  of  the  time  with  the  eternally  true  spirit  of 
religion. 

These  three  theses  will  explain  to  you  the  frequent 
use  the  Reformers  are  making  of  the  terms  "spirit 
of  the  age"  and  "demands  of  the  time."  They  are 
neither  invented  nor  advanced  as  a  mere  pretext  for 
frivolous  purposes,  but  stubborn  matters  of  fact  that 
can  not  be  overlooked,  and  must  be  properly  consid- 
ered and  carried  out  for  the  most  holy  interests  of 
our  religion. 

From  the  standpoint  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  party 
are  occupying,  there  are  but  two  ways  of  maintaining 
your  opposition.  If  you  agree  with  the  hyperorthodox 
party  in  Bavaria,  Baden  and  in  Prussia,  in  decrying 
the  spirit  of  the  age  as  wicked  and  impious,  you 
must,  to  be  consistent,  declare  the  full  emancipation  of 
the  Jews  to  be  incompatible  with  their  religion. 
Thereby  cause  and  effect  are  declared  to  be  frivolous 
and  illegal,  but  you  can  not  be  accused  of  being  illog- 
ical. But  you  are  well  aware  that  the  denial  of  the 
influence  of  a  historical  matter  of  fact  is  a  mere  self- 
deceiving   illusion,    void   of    any    lasting    foundation. 

383 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

Hence,  such  voices  are  but  the  dying  echo  of  bygone 
ages,  finding  no  sympathy  in  the  hearts  of  the  Hving 
generation.  Without  debate  or  investigation  this 
opinion  is  derided  as  obsolete,  and  the  best  energies 
of  our  best  men  are  directed  towards  obtaining  our 
full  rehabilitation  as  men  and  citizens.  The  honor 
every  Jew  owes  to  his  name,  history  and  religion 
prompt  him  to  try  his  best  for  this  holy  cause;  for 
every  one  is  fully,  though  perhaps  unconsciously 
aware,  that  true  religion  can  not  be  in  opposition  to 
the  highest  ideas  of  life.  This  ground,  then,  for  con- 
demning the  spirit  of  the  age  and  its  effects,  can  not, 
and  was  never  taken  by  you,  as  you  always  have 
shown  yourself  a  true  and  faithful  advocate  of  the 
political  rights  of  the  Jewish  people. 

But  in  order  to  justify  your  opposition  against 
Reform,  you  say:  "By  the  proceedings  of  Reform 
first,  the  unity  of  Israel,  bequeathed  through  cen- 
turies as  a  sacred  heritage,  has  been  broken,  an  event 
that  threatens  to  endanger  our  future  religious  ex- 
istence ;  secondly,  there  are  the  Bible  and  the  divine 
tradition  embodied  in  our  rabbinical  codices,  dearer 
unto  us  than  all  emancipation,  and  as  long  as  they 
have  not  been  repealed  by  the  divine  Lawgiver  Him- 
self, we  have  no  right  to  change  one  iota  thereof,  and 
all  demands  of  your  spirit  of  the  age  have  to  yield 
before  the  divine  law." 

This  is  your  assertion  and  hence  your  opposition 
to  Reform.  We  will  in  our  next  examine  your  views 
with  the  utmost  impartiality. 


384 


UNION    AND   USAGDS. 

IV. 

UNION  AND  USAGEIS. 

Cincinnati,  Dec.  16,  1856. 

I  am  going  to  examine  the  objections  you  are  rais- 
ing against  Reform.  I  shall  confine  myself  either  to 
matters  of  fact  or  your  own  principles,  without  giving 
for  the  present,  explicitly  those  of  the  Reformers : 
these,  on  their  broadest  scale,  I  shall  explain  here- 
after. I  will  sum  up  your  views  in  the  following 
sentences : 

1.  By  the  progress  of  Reform  the  Union  of  Israel, 
existing  for  so  many  centuries,  is  endangered. 

2.  Our  Bible  and  tradition,  as  embodied  in  our 
standard  rabbinical  codices,  are  against  the  destructive 
principles  of  Reform,  hence  the  latter  have  to  yield 
to  the  former. 

In  answer  to  your  first  objection:  the  Union,  in 
the  sense  you  are  taking  it,  as  the  uniform  abiding 
of  all  Israel  by  the  dictates  collected  in  our  codices, 
is  not  only  endangered  but  actually  gone.  This  divi- 
sion was  the  logical  consequence  of  the  difference  of 
principle  of  the  two  parties.  Your  party  rests  on 
the  medieval  principle  of  authority ;  the  Reform 
party  on  the  acknowledgment  of  reason,  as  declared 
by  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Your  party  is  founded  on 
the  unlimited  belief  in  tradition ;  the  Reform  party  on 
the  results  of  critical  and  historical  investigation. 
Your  party  claims  equal  right  and  title  for  all  our 
biblical,  traditional  and  rabbinical  codices ;  the  Re- 
form party  denies  this.  Your  party  asserts  that 
Judaism  must  remain  confined  within  the  limits  of  its 
national   particularity;    the   Reform  party   maintains 

385 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

that  according  to  its  Messianic  ideas,  Judaism  has  to 
lead  the  van  in  order  to  accomplish  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  only  "One"  by  the  whole  human  race. 
Your  party  expects  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophetic 
promise  from  some  supernatural  occurrence ;  the  Re- 
form party  asserts  that  in  the  general  development  of 
the  human  race  and  the  dutiful  cooperation  of  men, 
the  ways  and  means  are  given  for  attaining  this 
sublime  aim  and  end. 

Hence,  the  difference  is  one  of  principles,  and  a 
union,  in  your  sense,  has  become  a  sheer  impossibility. 
You  can  not  force  to  comply  with  ceremonies  those 
who  have  lost  the  religious  meaning  thereof  no  more 
than  you  can  urge  those  who  still  revere  them  as  a 
part  of  their  religion,  to  disobserve  them.  It  is  neither 
stubborn  obstinacy  on  your  part  that  prompts  you  to 
do  as  you  are  doing,  nor  frivolous  irreligiosity  that 
induces  the  Reformers  to  act  in  their  own  way.  Both 
parties  do  according  to  the  best  of  their  knowledge 
and  the  utmost  of  their  sincerity.  But  they  are  dia- 
metrically opposed,  and  each  acting  independently  of 
the  other  will  pursue  its  diverging  course.  The  one 
party  does  not  expect  and  will  not  be  satisfied  with  a 
gracious  concession  or  an  insignificant  yielding  of  the 
other  party,  but  relying  and  trusting  in  its  respective 
right  and  strength,  each  of  them  will  pursue  its  own 
way,  leaving  the  final  decision  to  the  future.  While 
nearly  all  men  advanced  in  age  and  led  by  endeared 
customs  and  habits  stay  with  your  party,  almost  the 
entire  rising  generation  will  join  that  of  the  Reform- 
ers ;  for  your  party  is  living  in  the  glories  of  the  past 
while  the  Reformers  are  enjoying  the  bright  antici- 
pations of  the  future. 

Hence,   all   efforts   to   efifect   a   reconciliation   have 

386 


UNION   AND    USAGi:S. 

proved  abortive ;  and  though  undertaken  with  the  best 
intention  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  all  attempts  like 
the  Rabbinerversammlungen  in  Germany,  the  Confer- 
ence in  Cleveland,  the  Conference  of  the  French  Chief 
Rabbis,  have  assisted  only  in  widening  the  gulf  and 
calling  forth  a  clearer  and  still  more  explicit  statement 
of  the  principles  separating  both  parties.  Your  party 
is  unwilling  and  declares  itself  religiously  bound  not 
to  yield ;  and  the  Reform  party  declare  their  inability 
to  betray  their  better  conviction  by  consenting  to  a 
retrogressive  movement.  Union,  therefore,  though  in 
a  higher  sense  governing  the  Jewish  community  with 
omnipotent  sway,  in  your  sense  has  become  a  mere 
phantom.  This  disunion  may  be  deplored,  but  its  ex- 
istence can  not  be  denied.  It  is  the  legitimate  off- 
spring of  the  spirit  of  our  age,  and  claims  the  full 
right  to  our  "exequatur." 

But,  you  say,  regarding  your  second  objection,  "the 
Bible,  tradition,  our  codices  and  our  usages  are  against 
your  spirit  of  the  age,  and  hence  I  am  forced  to  con- 
demn all  your  principles  of  Reform."  This  is  your 
Malakoff,  and  in  this,  your  stronghold,  you  have  so 
many  byways  and  vicious  circles  that  you  continually 
elude  any  positive  answer  to  a  direct  question  of  your 
opponents.  If  anyone  proves  to  you  the  obsoleteness 
of  many  a  ceremony,  you  reply:  "Let  that  be;  it  will 
fall  by  itself ;  and  let  us  unite  on  the  imperative  com- 
mands of  the  Bible  and  of  tradition."  If  then  another 
one  tells  you :  "Well,  then,  let  us  do  away  with  these 
obsolete  ceremonies,"  you  reply:  "But  they  are  the 
bequeathed  and  endeared  customs  of  old,  instituted  by 
learned  and  pious  men,  and  we  have  no  right  to 
abolish  them"  (though  they  may  be  antirabbinical  and 
antitraditional).     If  then  a  third  one  comes  and  tells 

387 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

you :  "Sir,  you  are  behind  the  times  with  your  views 
and  opinions,"  then  you  assert  {Occident,  Nov.,  p. 
383)  :  "We  have  urged  the  aboHshing  of  auction  sale 
in  the  synagogue,  the  discontinuance  of  Misheberach, 
the  keeping  of  order  and  decorum  in  the  synagogue; 
it  is  needless  to  furnish  a  catalogue  of  our  reforms." 
And  when,  then,  a  fourth  one  comes,  telling  you : 
"No,  sir,  here  your  catalogue  is  at  end ;  and  these  are 
no  reforms.  Time  wants  other  reforms,  and  has  al- 
ready carried  them  out,"  then  you  reply  {Occident, 
p.  386)  :  "According  to  the  plain  reading  of  the  rule 
of  the  Orach  Chajim  it  is  prohibited,  and  all  sophistry 
can  not  wipe  it  out." 

To  this  mode  of  reasoning  we  must  make  an  end. 
We  must  try  to  disentangle  this  labyrinth  of  your 
confused  ideas ;  show  the  contradiction  in  your  own 
arguments,  and  with  matters  of  fact,  apply  the  dis- 
secting knife  of  criticism  to  your  mixtum  compositum, 
in  which,  in  the  most  perverted  manner  you  use  as 
ingredients  Bible,  tradition,  rabbinical  codices  and 
usages  and  we  will  prove  how  much  even  you  and 
your  party  have  been  influenced  by  "the  spirit  of  the 
age,"  so  that  a  full  return  to  your  proposition  has 
become  the  most  ridiculous  impossibility.  I  therefore 
invite  you  to  an  investigation  ascending  from  the 
usages  upwards  to  the  Bible. 

1.  USAGES.  You  declare  them  as  holy  and  in- 
violable, and  as  the  reason  of  your  argument,  you  ad- 
duce the  two  sentences,  generally  quoted  h"^  )tnj?3 
rrnin  ^N^ti^''  "the  customs  of  Israel  are  laws,"  and  linjD 
rO^n  Ipiy  "the  custom  abolishes  the  law ;"  hence  it 
is  proved  that  they  can  not  be  touched.  But,  sir,  in 
the  name  of  common  sense,  how  could  the  true  mean- 
ing of  these  two  sentences  be  so  entirely  misconstrued? 


388 


J 


UNION   AND   USAGES. 

Do  not  these  sentences  prove  just  the  contrary  of  your 
assertions?  They  say  in  plain  words  that  the  re- 
spective consciousness  of  every  era  and  age  repeals  the 
law,  that  the  Minhag  (the  custom)  is  entitled  to  up- 
root (Oker)  even  a  fixed  law  and  statute  (Halacha), 
and  that  the  new  custom  of  Israel  becomes  the  law. 
Instead  of  being  a  conservative  statement,  it  is  en- 
tirely in  favor  of  Reform ;  instead  of  supporting  your 
assertion  it  refutes  it  entirely.  The  rabbis  duly  fore- 
saw that  the  life  of  a  nation  destined  to  outlive  all 
changes  and  chosen  to  accomplish  the  redemption  of 
the  whole  human  race,  could  not  possibly  be  limited 
to  customs  fixed  a  thousand  years  past.  With  their 
usual  perspicuity  they  laid  down  these  broad  prin- 
ciples as  a  groundwork  for  further  development.  By 
virtue  of  these  two  revolutionary  sentences  they  sanc- 
tioned the  customs  of  their  ages,  though  founded 
neither  on  Bible  nor  on  tradition,  and  the  legal  and 
powerful  authority  of  these  two  sentences  they  be- 
queathed to  following  generations,  to  do  for  their 
times  as  they  had  done  for  the  preceding  ones.  Main- 
taining this  ground  we  feel  fully  satisfied  to  see  cus- 
tom changing  in  our  times ;  we  know  what  right  we 
have  to  sanction  and  to  approve  of  this  change.  But 
misconstruing  these  sentences,  what  reasons  can  you 
adduce  for  sanctioning  changes  wrought  in  our  pri- 
vate as  well  as  in  our  public  life?  None,  none  at  all! 
And,  nevertheless,  you  must  confess  the  changes  are 
correct ;  a  retrogression  has  become  an  impossibility, 
and  anyone  who  would  urge  it  would  make  our  re- 
ligion a  contemptible  laughing  stock. 

I  will  give  you  a  few  examples,  while  I  feel  sorry 
to  turn  to  ridicule.  You  know  that  the  married  women 
in  Israel  were  forbidden  to  appear  in  public  without 

389 


MAX  UUENTIIAI,. 

covering  their  hair ;  that  hence  they  were  used  not 
only  to  wear  hoods  but  even  a  kind  of  wig.  The  rab- 
binical law  went  so  far  as  to  make  it  a  legal  argument 
for  a  divorce  if  a  married  woman  trespassed  this  law, 
and  that  she  could  be  divorced  without  even  obtaining 
her  KeUibah.  This  custom  nowadays  has  been  done 
away  with ;  the  women  removed  the  covering  and 
everyone  gave  his  silent  consent  to  this  change. 
Would  you,  dear  sir,  dare  now  to  step  before  the 
American  Jewish  public  and  argue  the  necessity  of 
reintroducing  this  custom,  and  in  case  of  failing  to 
carry  your  point,  advocate,  on  such  a  ground,  the 
legality  of  a  divorce? 

Or,  you  know  of  what  paramount  influence,  even 
thirty  years  ago,  was  the  prohibition  of  Yayiti  Nesech 
with  all  its  numerous  ramifications,  or  another  pro- 
hibition of  carrying  an  umbrella  on  a  Sabbath,  so 
that  even  under  a  very  heavy  shower  no  one  dared  to 
open  it,  or  (but  I  rather  stop,  exempla  sunt  odiosa) 
would  you  dare  on  such  a  ground  to  censure  the  Amer- 
ican Israelites  for  irreligious  frivolity?  Would  you 
not  run  the  risk  of  being  laughed  at  when  calling  such 
customs  "religion?"  Must  you  not  acknowledge,  that 
the  spirit  of  the  age  having  wrought  this  change,  has 
outgrown  that  consciousness  of  religious  minuteness, 
and  has  conceived  quite  a  higher  and  more  sublime 
idea  of  religion? 

You  see,  your  theory  has  come  into  open  contra- 
diction with  the  practice  and  consciousness  of  the  age ; 
that  a  retrogression  has  become  a  moral  impossibility; 
that  this  fence  is  actually  broken  down ;  and,  never- 
theless, with  the  ostrich  policy  you  do  not  want  to 
see  it ;  you  can  not  condemn  it,  and  in  accordance 
with  your  principle,  you  can  not  approve  it.    Will  you 

390 


RABBINICAIv    CODICES,    OR    THE    SHUI.CHAN    ARUCH. 

not  please  tell  me,  without  any  ambiguity,  how  you 
will  extricate  yourself  from  such  a  self -contradictory 

fi/-li/-ii1niic   -nncifion  "? 


ridiculous  position; 


RABBINICAIv  CODICES,  OR  THE  SHUECHAN  ARUCH. 

Cincinnati,  Dec.  26,  1856. 

I  am  coming  now  to  the  rabbinical  codices  or  the 
Shulchan  Aruch.  The  supreme  principle  directing  your 
opinion  in  this  province  you  have  clearly  defined  by 
the  sentence  {Occident,  Nov.,  386)  "The  plain  reading 
of  the  rule  of  the  Shulchan  Aruch  prohibits  it,  and  no 
sophistry  can  wipe  it  out."  By  this  autocratic  and 
dictatorial  assertion  you  have  declared  the  inviola- 
bility of  these  codices.  This,  your  opinion,  is  founded 
on  the  obsolete  medieval  notion  of  an  immediate  trust 
in  any  authority  whatever.  Without  admitting  any 
critical  or  historical  investigation  like  the  kings  and 
nobles  of  "Dei  gratia,"  you  refer  to  your  old  books 
and  titles,  exclaiming:  "Here  is  the  law,  sanctioned 
by  the  reverence  and  obedience  of  bygone  centuries ; 
we  have  to  adopt  it  as  we  have  inherited  it ;  we  have 
no  right  either  to  abolish  it  or  even  to  winnow  and 
sift  it.  The  Shulchan  Aruch  is  my  guide,  and  any 
contradiction  of  this  premise  is  plain  and  open  heresy." 

The  spirit  of  our  age,  however,  unwilling  to  yield 
to  ukases,  replies :  Let  us  examine  this  your  autocratic 
prohibition.  Is  the  Shulchan  Aruch,  as  it  is  presented 
to  us,  a  divine  revelation,  so  that  no  sophistry  can 
wipe  it  out?  No,  it  is  not.  Is  its  entire  context  a 
complex  of  mere  direct  traditions  {Halacha  leMoshe 
Misitiai)f    No,  it  is  not.     Does  the  Shulchan  Aruch 

391 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

contain  nothing  but  the  plain  Halachoth  of  the  Tal- 
mud?    No,  it  contains  also  the  continuous  additions 
and  accretions  made  ])y  a  host  of  rabbis  down  to  the 
latter  centuries.    Was  it  adopted  in  toto  by  all  the  Jews 
throughout   all   centuries?     No,    for  the   Portuguese 
Jews  follow  the  opinion  of  Rabbi  Joseph  Karo  only, 
while  the  German  and  Polish  Jews  adopted  the  addi- 
tions of  still  later  authorities.    Hence  even  from  your 
standpoint  it  would  be  permitted  to  strike  out  half  of 
the  SJmlchan  Aruch,  by  rescinding  all  but  the  plain 
reading  of  the  rules  of  Joseph  Karo.     By  this  pro- 
ceeding one   full   half   of   our  onerous   customs   and 
usages  would  be  done  away  with,  they  being  founded 
on  no  other  authority  than  on  that  of  the  Polish  scholar 
Remah,^  who  imported  into  that  codex  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Jews  then  living  in  Poland.    This 
importation,    having    neither    biblical    nor   traditional 
foundation,  but  merely  the  spontaneous  consent  of  his 
and  the  following  generations,  can  be  declared  void  of 
any  legal  authority  as  soon  as  this  consent  of  sub- 
mitting any  longer  to  these  unfounded  accretions  is 
withdrawn.     Hence  without  any  sophistry  whatever, 
but  by  virtue  of  good  right  and  title,  at  least  one-half 
of  our  Shulchan  Aruch  can  be  wiped  out  as  soon  as 
the  people  are  willing  to  assume  this  legal  authority. 
But  probing  the  question  still  deeper  we  must  ask : 
What  course  have  we  to  pursue,  when  we  can  prove 
that    legal    decisions,    as    compiled   in    the    Shulchan 
Aruch  in  course  of  time  have  shaped  themselves  in 
open  contradiction  to  the  plain  reading  of  the  rule  of 
the  Bible  and   tradition,  and  of   abolishing  develop- 
ments of  later  date,  that  nowadays  have  become  on- 
erous and  conflicting  with  the  demands  of  the  time? 

^  Moses  Isserles. 

392 


RABBINICAIv   CODICES,    OR   THE    SHUIvCHAN    ARUCH. 

You  will  reply  that  there  are  no  decisions  of  that 
kind.  Well,  then,  I  will  give  you  but  a  very  few 
examples,  and  matters  of  fact  will  substantiate  my 
charge : 

1.  The  scrupulous  and  minute  form  of  our  giving 
divorce.  The  plain  word  of  the  Bible  reads  thus: 
"When  a  man  hath  taken  a  wife,  and  married  her, 
and  it  come  to  pass  that  she  finds  no  favor  in  his  eyes, 
because  he  hath  found  some  unseemly  thing  in  her, 
then  let  him  write  her  a  bill  of  divorce  and  give  it  in 
her  hand,  and  send  her  out  of  his  house."  (Deut.  xxiv, 
1.)  The  sense  and  meaning  of  this  biblical  command, 
of  providing  the  dismissed  wife  with  a  written  bill  of 
divorce,  is  no  other  than  that  she  might  be  furnished 
with  a  document  entitling  her  to  be  married  to  an- 
other man. 

In  full  accordance  with  the  plain  reading  of  the 
Bible  the  Talmud,  therefore  (Treatise  Gittin)  main- 
tains, that  after  the  charge  for  giving  a  divorce  has 
been  substantiated,  the  bill  of  divorce  may  be  writ- 
ten by  anyone  whomsoever,  in  any  language  and  form, 
provided  that  it  expresses  the  sense  of  the  divorce, 
be  signed  in  a  legal  form  by  witnesses,  etc. 

Please  compare  with  this  plain  legal  proceeding  the 
minuteness  and  the  difficulties  for  writing  a  divorce 
detailed  in  our  codex  Bben  Haesar.  These  go  so  far 
that  by  the  most  insignificant  mistake  by  the  Sopher 
(scribe)  the  entire  bill  is  declared  to  be  void  of  any 
legal  validity.  Would  a  reform  of  this  proceeding  be 
antibiblical  and  antitraditional  ?  Would  it  be  beyond 
our  legal  right  if  we  would  draw  up  a  formula  in  plain 
Hebrew,  and  translate  it  into  the  vernacular  of  the 
country,  without  paying  any  attention  to  these  obso- 
lete directions? 

2.  The  abolition  of  the  second  day  of  Yom  Toh. 

393 


MAX  LII-IENTHAI,. 

The  Bible  never  and  nowhere  commands  it.  The  Tal- 
mud tells  us  plainly  that  these  traditional  days  were 
introduced  merely  because  the  days  were  not  fixed  by 
mathematical  calculation,  but  by  the  monthly  observa- 
tions of  the  new  moon ;  and  as  the  messengers  sent 
by  the  proper  authorities  for  carrying  the  informa- 
tion as  to  what  days  had  been  appointed  holidays 
could  not  reach  the  distant  communities  in  proper 
time,  these  second  days  were  instituted  to  prevent  a 
desecration  of  the  biblical  holiday.  The  Talmud  says 
clearly  this  is  no  legal  obligation,  but  a  mere  custom 
dating  from  later  times. 

The  mode  of  fixing  the  holidays  having  entirely 
changed  nowadays,  the  calculation  of  the  almanac  be- 
ing correct  beyond  any  mistake,  the  second  day  of 
Yom  Tob  being  burdensome  to  a  great  many  of  our 
merchants,  tradesmen  and  mechanics,  there  being  no 
legal  objection  raised  either  by  the  Bible  or  tradition, 
why  should  we  not  advocate  and  sanction  a  reform 
when  so  imperatively  demanded,  as  was  done  only  a 
few  years  ago  by  the  Jewish  merchants  of  Italy  ? 

3.  The  reading  of  the  entire  Pentateuch  in  the 
synagogue  every  three  years.  The  Bible  ordains  (Deut. 
xxxiii,  10-13)  the  reading  of  the  law  every  seven 
years  on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  the  year  of  re- 
lease. The  Talmud  (Megillah,  fol.  39b)  states  plainly 
that  in  Palestine  the  Pentateuch  was  read  every  three 
years,  for  they  did  not  care  as  we  do  for  the  mere 
reading,  but  that  the  portion  might  be  understood  by 
the  congregation ;  and  hence  they  appointed  a  Me- 
turgeman  who  translated  and  explained  every  verse  in 
the  vernacular  of  the  country  to  the  attentive  listeners. 

What  meaning  has  the  hasty,  unintelligible  manner 
of  our  reading?    Why  should  we  not  adopt  and  ad- 

394 


RABBINICAIv    CODICES,    OR    THE    SHULCHAN    ARUCH. 

vocate  a  reform,  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  Bible 
and  tradition  and  in  harmony  with  the  demands  of 
our  time?  What  reasonable  objection  can  you  raise 
to  such  an  important  and  telling  improvement  of  our 
service?  Here,  then,  sir,  you  find  three  examples  of 
decisions,  entirely  in  contradiction  with  the  plain  read- 
ing of  the  rule  of  the  Bible  and  tradition;  what  rea- 
sons or  what  laws  will  you  adduce  for  censuring  con- 
gregations that  are  willing  to  adopt  such  reforms,  and 
to  carry  out  such  a  radical  change  of  our  Shulchan 
Aruch? 

Yon  find  yourself,  then,  in  the  following  dilemma: 
From  your  standpoint  you  must  assert,  either  that  the 
legislative  power  has  ceased  with  Bible  and  Talmud, 
or  that  the  same  has  been  bequeathed  also  to  fu- 
ture generations.  If  it  did  cease  with  the  first  au- 
thorities, then  certainly  we  are  entitled  to  abolish  the 
interpretations  of  later  rabbis ;  and  if  it  did  not  cease 
with  them,  and  every  successive  generation  be  en- 
dowed with  the  same  authority,  then  we  too  are  en- 
titled to  do  away  with  what  they  have  added.  Hence, 
whatever  side  of  the  question  you  advocate,  you  are 
logically  bound  to  repeal  your  autocratic  assertion, 
"the  plain  reading  of  the  rule  of  the  Shulchan  Aruch 
prohibits  it,  and  no  sophistry  can  wipe  it  out." 

I  know  all  the  objections  you  will  raise  even  against 
this  dilemma,  and  will  examine  them  with  the  greatest 
impartiality. 

First  you  will  object:  "How  will  you  compare  the 
rabbis  of  our  age  with  those  gigantic  minds,  the  emi- 
nent Talmudists,  the  men  of  unbiased  piety  of  bygone 
ages ;  your  comparison  is  lame,  and  no  one  will  grant 
you  the  same  authority  he  willingly  concedes  to  those 
paragons  of  learning  and  religion."     Why  not,  dear 

395 


MAX   UURNTlIAIv. 

sir?  Without  pointing  out  the  impropriety  of  imput- 
ing to  the  present  rabbis  either  deficiency  of  knowl- 
edge or  want  of  true  piety,  I  shall  refer  you  to  one  of 
your  own  acknowledged  authorities,  the  Talmud  itself, 
that  provided  beforehand  against  such  a  bar  to  all 
progress,  against  such  unlimited  reverence  of  bygone 
ages.  In  Treatise  Rosh  Hashannah,  page  25b,  we 
read:  "It  is  said  (Deuter.  xvii,  9)  thou  shalt  go  to  the 
priests  and  Levites  and  the  judge,  that  will  be  in  these 
days ;  now  certainly  a  man  can  not  go  to  a  judge  who 
was  not  in  his  days,  but  has  to  go  to  the  judge  ap- 
pointed in  his  own  time,  so  that  thou  mayest  not  say 
(Eccles.  vii,  10)  that  the  former  days  were  better  than 
our  own."  Rashi  and  Tosephot  corroborate  this  atti- 
tude, and  hence  this,  your  objection,  is  waived  by  the 
authority  you  cite. 

But  you  continue :  "Were  the  rabbis  of  old  at  least 
not  as  sound  and  great  scholars  as  those  of  our  time? 
Why,  then,  did  they  arrive  at  conclusions  so  widely 
differing  from  those  of  the  modern  rabbis?"  The 
reply,  sir,  is  a  plain  and  simple  one.  The  cause  of  this 
difference  is  to  be  found  in  the  difference  of  the  spirit 
of  the  respective  ages.  They  acknowledged  and  sub- 
mitted blindly  to  any  rabbinical  decision  whatever, 
while  in  our  days  every  authority  before  being  recog- 
nized is  put  to  the  test  of  a  critical  investigation.  They 
started  when  giving  their  decisions  from  the  supreme 
principle  n'2'^'2  rh^  J^IDn  "I'l^HD  ^3  "the  more  severe 
the  better,"  while  our  time  starts  from  the  opposite 
principle  n""^  C]nV  STinim  «n3,  "the  alleviating  and 
disburdening  decision  has  the  legal  preference."  Hence 
the  difference  of  the  times  and  the  results. 

But  you  continue  saying:  "People  are  not  yet  pre- 
pared for  such  a  change;  you  confuse  them  with  your 

396 


RABBINICAL    CODICES,    OR    THE    SHUECHAN    ARUCH. 

theories ;  you  cause  a  religious  revolution,  pregnant 
with  the  most  fatal  results ;  better  leave  everything 
in  statu  quo;  the  doubts  engendered  by  the  result  of 
progressive  science  have  taken  hold  of  many  a  mind, 
have  undermined  the  faith  in  the  legal  foundation, 
and  are  urging  imperatively  the  required  change.  By 
your  masterly  inactivity  you  will  foster  hypocrisy,  the 
results  of  which — indifference  and  atheism — will  be  a 
thousand  times  worse  than  all  reforms."  No,  sir,  if 
the  masses  are  not  yet  sufficiently  prepared  for  the 
changes  unavoidably  in  store  for  us,  it  is  the  holy  duty 
of  the  Jewish  ministry  and  press  to  enlighten  them  on 
every  subject,  to  build  a  bridge  from  the  existing  or- 
der of  things  over  to  the  newly  discovered  truth,  to 
assist  them  in  overcoming  the  travails  of  the  present 
state  of  transition,  instead  of  misconstruing  an  obliga- 
tion to  uphold  what  time  has  declared  obsolete.  As 
soon  as  right  has  been  proved  to  be  right,  let  it  be 
openly  declared  in  spite  of  the  insinuations  of  the 
opponents.  Such  an  unanimous  and  hearty  coopera- 
tion of  all  professional  men  will  soon  remove  the 
obstacles  thought  to  be  insurmountable,  establish  the 
right  of  reform  on  legal  and  rational  grounds,  and 
restore  peace  and  harmony. 

Summing  up,  then,  I  deem  the  reform  of  the 
Shulchan  ArucJi  to  be  justified  beyond  any  objection. 
Therefore,  I  pause  for  an  answer,  which,  no  doubt, 
will  be  given  with  that  impartiality  and  absence  of 
passion  that  is  befitting  a  contest,  the  end  and  aim  of 
which  is  the  glorification  of  truth  and  not  of  our 
humble  selves- 


397 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 


THE  FLAG  AND  THE  UNION.^ 

Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  brethren,  in  the  name  of 
God,  the  invincible  warrior — the  Lord  is  his  name! 
Welcome  in  the  name  of  our  good  and  great  coun- 
try, the  harbinger  of  liberty,  the  messenger  of  peo- 
ple's right  and  people's  might !  Welcome  in  the  name 
of  our  president,  who  ordered  us  to  celebrate  this 
day  of  thanksgiving,  of  national  victory  and  national 
rejoicing!  Welcome  in  the  name  of  Grant,  Sherman, 
Sheridan,  and  their  hosts  of  heroes,  who  have  won 
for  us  this  day  of  glory  and  victory,  this  day  of 
national  pride  and  resurrection ! 

Indeed  this  is  a  great  day !  It  is  not  a  family 
festival  over  which  happiness  reigns  in  one  house, 
while  tears  and  mourning  may  darken  the  neighbor's 
residence.  It  is  not  a  sectarian  holiday,  celebrated 
in  one  church  while  it  is  ridiculed  or  disregarded  in 
the  neighboring  house  of  divine  worship !  No;  a  whole 
nation's  heart  thrills  with  great  joy;  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  nation  are  filled  with  tears  of  gratitude ;  nay, 
more,  still  more — not  only  we,  the  free  people  of 
America,  are  celebrating  this  day  of  glory  and  honor, 
but  the  nations  all  over  the  globe  who  are  strvtggling 
for  liberty  and  man's  innate  rights  will  in  time  to 
come  join  with  us  in  celebrating  with  us  the  fourteenth 
day  of  April,  the  day  on  which  the  stars  and  stripes 
again  were  raised  over  the  ruins  of  Fort  Sumter — 

'  Address  at  the  Broadway  Synagogue,  Cincinnati,  April 
15,    1865. 

398 


the;  Fi^AG  AND  the;  union. 

the  stripes  in  unequaled  grandeur,  the  stars  in  un- 
wonted light  and  splendor. 

Oh,  how  dearly  we  love  thee,  blessed  flag  of  our 
country !  How  proudly  we  look  upon  thee,  emblem 
of  the  home  of  the  brave  and  the  free !  How  rev- 
erently we  embrace  thee,  sacred  legacy  of  our  im- 
mortal Washington !  Is  it  true  that  thine  own  chil- 
dren have  forsaken  thee,  have  rebelled  against  thee, 
have  trampled  thee  in  the  dust,  nay,  afar  down  in 
the  Sunny  South,  have  buried  thee  at  the  foot  of  a 
monument  of  the  immortal  Jackson,  in  a  dark  and 
silent  grave,  as  if  thou,  heaven-born  child,  wert  not 
eternal  like  the  heavens,  as  if  after  the  Creator's 
command,  "Let  there  be  light,"  the  heavenly  stars 
could  be  extinguished,  and  give  way  to  the  darkness 
of  chaos  and  disorder? 

Alas !  It  is  so.  This  day,  four  years  ago,  was  the 
gloomiest  in  the  history  of  our  country ;  it  was  as  if 
the  sun  of  liberty  were  setting  forever!  Monarchs 
were  rejoicing,  but  the  nations  were  desponding; 
kings  and  their  myrmidons  were  shouting,  "The  peo- 
ple's government  is  a  vision  and  delusion,"  but  na- 
tions were  despairing — the  last  hope  of  the  regenera- 
tion of  the  human  race  seemed  to  be  lost  forever. 

Oh,  we  remember  those  days  of  agony  and  national 
misery !  Morning  after  morning  brought  us  the 
heartrending  news,  sister  state  after  sister  state 
was  seceding;  the  holy  bond  of  our  union  was  broken. 
Who  dared  at  that  time  to  look  up  at  this  flag,  with 
its  then  thirty-one  stars,  without  feeling  ashamed  of 
the  mockery  it  represented,  without  being  shocked  at 
the  insult  it  offered  to  the  blazing  escutcheon?  Who 
dared  to  think  of  the  Monument  of  Bunker  Hill, 
once   the   lighthouse   of   liberty   to   the   downtrodden 

399 


MAX  LIUENTHAIv. 

immigrant,  now  the  warning  finger  of  the  people's 
incapacity  for  self-government !  Who  dared  to  pass 
the  glorious  Independence  Hall  of  Philadelphia  with- 
out hearing  the  reproach  of  the  spirits  hovering  in 
tliose  sacred  abodes  lamenting:  "We  have  risked 
blood  and  treasure  for  your  flag  and  ye  have  doomed 
it  to  scorn,  mockery  and  perdition?"  Who  dared 
to  journey  down  the  Potomac  to  Mt.  Vernon,  to  the 
sacred  grave  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  without 
fearing  to  desecrate  by  his  presence  the  solemn 
abode,  and  to  disturb  by  the  afiflicting  news  of  the 
day  the  blessed  slumber  of  our  immortal  Washing- 
ton? Who  dared  to  visit  our  national  capital,  visit 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  without 
being  reminded  of  Jeremiah's  lamentations :  "How 
doth  the  city  sit  solitary  that  was  full  of  people.  She 
that  was  great  among  the  nations  and  princes,  among 
the  provinces  she  has  become  a  widow?"  And  when 
we  were  viewing  the  splendid  river  watering  the 
hills  of  doubtful  and  wavering  Kentucky,  how  broke 
our  hearts  when  silently  meditating:  "There  are  the 
frontiers  between  North  and  South ;  forever  we  must 
look  at  our  disgrace,  forever  we  shall  have  our  na- 
tional shame  before  our  eyes !"  O  what  wonder  that 
good  patriots  committed  suicide,  exclaiming:  "Bet- 
ter death  than  a  disgraced  country!" 

But  over  the  dishonored  flag  stood  in  all  its  power 
and  fury,  watchful,  ever  ready,  the  eagle  of  America. 
How  he  screamed  in  tribulation!  How  he  beat  his 
majestic  wings!  How  he  awakened  his  people  to  the 
great  words  of  our  Jackson :  "The  Union  must  and 
shall  be  preserved !"  It  was  a  mere  word,  now  let  it 
become  a  bloody  reality !  It  has  in  peaceful  times  long 
enough  decorated  your  homes,  embellished  your  houses, 

400 


THi;  FLAG  AND  THE  UNION. 

been  greeted  with  deafening  applause  when  referred  to 
by  your  speakers.  "Prove  it,  my  people,  that  it  was  not 
a  mere  sound,  not  mere  self-flattery,  not  mere  decep- 
tion, but  earnest,  real,  good  earnest.  Up  to  the  rescue, 
my  children.  Up  to  heaven  I  will  soar,  and  there  I  will 
fasten  the  stars  that  they  shall  float  higher  than  ever, 
the  emblem  of  our  Union,  the  sign  of  human  lib- 
erty." 

And  the  children  came,  as  only  Americans  come — 
not  as  Frenchmen,  roused  with  momentary  enthusi- 
asm for  sham  liberty  and  vainglory,  nor  like  English- 
men for  egotistical  pride  and  commercial  interests, 
nor  like  Germans  dreaming  of  visionary  liberty  yet 
sulking  under  the  yoke  of  reaction — but  determined 
and  resolved  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  their  coun- 
try, the  honor  of  the  star-spangled  banner  and  to 
fight  for  all  the  world  the  decisive  battle  of  universal 
freedom.  The  old  sire  grasped  the  hand  of  his  son : 
"Gird  thy  sword,  and  though  thou  art  my  only  sup- 
port— first  the  country  and  then  our  family!"  The 
mother  embraced  the  young  warrior,  priding  herself 
on  his  military  bearing:  "Go,  go,  my  son.  Mother's 
love  and  mother's  blessing  accompany  you !"  Sisters 
were  embracing  brothers ;  sweethearts  once  more 
were  embracing  their  lovers :  "Ofl^,  off,  young  he- 
roes! This  lock  of  hair,  this  scarf  of  national  colors 
— take  it  as  your  talisman,  and  bring  us  back  the 
banner  untarnished  and  unstained !" 

And  they  went,  resolved  to  wash  off  the  inflicted 
stains  with  the  best  lifeblood  of  the  nation.  The 
surging  waves  of  the  ocean  of  rebellion  were  driven 
back,  and  "Onward,  onward !"  was  the  cry  of  these 
legions  of  citizen  soldiers.  Long  was  the  struggle, 
terrible  the  sacrifices,  numerous  the  disappointments ; 

401 


MAX  LILIIJNTHAI,. 

but  "Onward,  always  onward !"  was  the  warcry  of 
the  army,  the  prayer  of  the  nation.  Art  and  nature 
combined  were  no  obstacles  for  republican  valor  and 
bravery — the  night  began  to  disperse,  the  clouds  to 
disappear,  victory  to  smile,  confidence  to  grow — and 
there  after  four  long  years  dawns  the  fourteenth  of 
April  again,  and  on  Fort  Sumter  waves  the  old  flag, 
with  inscriptions  of  Austerlitzes,  of  Marengos,  of  Se- 
bastopols  and  Solferinos — but  of  no  Moscows  and  no 
Waterloos.  No,  every  star  is  an  emblem  of  a  new 
victory,  and  from  Fort  Donelson  up  to  Richmond 
are  marked  the  steps  of  the  giant  heroes ;  and  over 
the  deluge  of  blood  is  triumphantly  waving  the  ark 
of  the  Union,  greeted  already  by  the  sweet  dove  har- 
binger who  is  bringing  the  olive  branch  of  peace, 
union  and  universal  liberty. 

All  hail,  then,  our  glorious  republic,  undivided  and 
undivisible !  We  sing  today  with  the  royal  psalmist : 
"They  that  sow  in  tears  will  reap  in  joy.  He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth  shall  doubtless  come  again 
rejoicing,  bringing  with  him  his  sheaves."  Yes,  we 
have  sown  in  tears,  for  in  this  hour  of  joy  and  tri- 
umph we  do  not  forget  the  honored  graves  of  the 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who  sleep  in  the 
churchyards  of  the  South,  where  even  now  nature 
is  bringing  the  gifts  of  the  spring  as  offering.  Yes, 
we  have  sown  in  tears,  for  there  is  mourning  by 
every  heartstone ;  there  are  broken  hearts  at  every 
fireside ;  there  are  widows  who  have  ofifered  their 
best ;  there  are  orphans  who  have  lost  their  fathers 
. — and  killed,  not  by  foreign  foes,  not  by  foreign  in- 
vaders, but  by  the  fatricidal  hand  of  erring  brethren. 

Yes,  we  have  sown  in  tears,  for  there  is  poverty 
where  good  fathers  provided  ample  support  for  their 

402 


THE  FI.AG  AND  THE   UNION. 

beloved  families ;  there  is  mourning  where  there  was 
joy  and  happiness ;  there  is  gloom  and  hopelessness 
where  life  was  full  of  the  buds  of  future  prosper- 
ity. No,  we  shall  not  forget  these  graves ;  with 
eternal  gratitude  we  lay  the  laurel  leaf  on  every 
tomb;  with  feelings  of  everlasting  indebtedness  we 
adorn  the  sepulchers  of  our  fallen  heroes;  we  weep 
with  the  orphan ;  we  mourn  with  the  widow ;  we 
grieve  with  the  bereft  ones — but  he  who  sows  with 
tears  shall  reap  with  joy  bringing  with  him  his 
sheaves. 

Yes,  brethren,  it  is  a  rich  harvest  we  are  bringing 
home.  These  are  precious  fruits  we  are  gathering 
from  these  battlefields,  which  required  rivers  of  blood 
for  their  nurture.  These  are  innumerable  blessings 
for  which  we  are  celebrating  this  thanksgiving.  We 
have  in  four  years  advanced  intellectually,  morally 
and  politically  more  than  other  nations  will  in  cen- 
turies to  come. 

Four  years  ago,  how  many  of  us  were  Aboli- 
tionists? How  many  of  us  dreamt  of  the  possibility 
that  this  sacred  soil  of  liberty  should  be  cleansed 
from  the  scourge  of  slavery?  How  many  of  us  had 
moral  courage  enough  to  think  that  this  great  stain 
could  be  or  should  be  removed  from  the  brilliant 
escutcheon  of  the  American  people?  We  hated  the 
Radicals;  we  shunned  their  society;  we  abhored  the 
though  of  abolition — all  that  we  aimed  at,  all  that  we 
were  striving  for,  was  the  confinement  of  slavery  to 
its  then  territorial  limits.  Not  one,  not  even  our 
president  dreamed  of  interfering  with  the  specific 
institutions  of  the  South.  We  acknowledged  their 
rights  as  slaveholders.  We  would  even  have  been 
willing  to   defend   their   slave   property.     And   now, 

403 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

hard  and  dire  necessity  has  taught  us  the  lesson  of 
supreme  moraHty.  Right  must  be  right  whatever 
may  be  the  consequences.  Dire  necessity  pressed  into 
the  hands  of  Lincohi  the  pen  for  signing  the  decree 
of  emancipation;  and  dire  necessity  made  every  citi- 
zen a  strong  advocate  of  the  same  doctrine. 

It  is  no  wanton  hist  to  let  the  conquered  foe  feel 
the  might  of  the  conquering  sword ;  it  is  no  thirst 
for  revenge  that  bids  us  let  the  vanquished  drink  to 
the  dregs  the  bitter  cup  of  punishment ;  no,  to  us 
was  left  the  choice :  Union  or  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery.  It  hovered  in  our  midst  like  a  midnight 
specter  deranging  our  relations  as  members  of  our 
country,  dividing  the  land  into  two  sections  as  widely 
differing  as  the  north  and  south  poles,  interfering 
with  legislative  promptitude  and  harmony.  We  let 
it  grow  till  it  brought  us  to  the  verge  of  national 
ruin,  and  having  been  saved,  the  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  prompts  us  to  eradicate  the  evil.  Now 
that  we  have  accomplished  that  we  shall  have  a 
Union  indeed.  We  shall  have  peace;  we  shall  be 
one  people  no  longer  divided  into  two  sections. 

With  millions  of  lives  and  millions  of  treasure,  we 
have  brought  a  sacrifice  for  our  national  existence, 
and  morally  atoned  and  morally  redeemed  we  are 
standing  before  the  astonished  and  amazed  world. 
Oh,  what  progress,  what  blessing,  what  harvest  in 
four  years !  Four  years  ago  the  president-elect,  the 
scorned  rail-splitter,  on  his  way  to  Washington,  had 
to  disguise  himself  as  a  Scotchman  in  order  to  elude 
the  assassin's  dagger  that  awaited  him  in  "Maryland, 
my  Maryland."  Inaugurated  into  his  office,  the  oath 
was  administered  to  him  by  the  chief  justice  of  the 
United  States,  the  author  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 

404 


THD  FivAG  AND  THE  UNION. 

And  four  weeks  ago,  the  same  man  elected  to  the 
same  office  in  spite  of  having  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Emancipation,  now  respected  and  revered,  now 
considered  as  a  man  of  manifest  destiny  and  heroic 
immortality,  renders  the  oath  to  the  hands  of  another 
chief  justice,  the  advocate  of  universal  human  free- 
dom, and  on  the  border  of  "Maryland,  my  Mary- 
land"— a  free  state,  freed  from  the  everlasting  blem- 
ish of  slavery. 

Again,  the  war  found  us  a  conglomeration  of  semi- 
independent  states ;  it  leaves  us  a  nation.  The  vision 
of  state  sovereignty  has  vanished ;  the  right  of  seces- 
sion is  discarded;  the  idea  of  state  supremacy  over 
the  might  of  the  Union  is  exploded.  We  feel  now 
that  we  have  a  country  that  reaches  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  from  the  North  to  the  Gulf,  one 
and  indivisible.  We  feel  now  that  we  have  a  gov- 
ernment, strong,  mighty  and  powerful  enough  to 
maintain  our  integrity  and  to  crush  under  the  wheels 
of  its  majestic  chariot  any  attempt  at  dismember- 
ment, and  know  now  that  the  Union  is  not  a  mere 
sound ;  not  a  mere  theory,  but  a  stern  reality  which 
the  people  will  never  surrender  and  for  which  the 
people  are  ready  to  sacrifice  the  last  drop  of  blood 
and  the  last  particle  of  treasure.  Thank  God,  we, 
our  children,  and  our  children's  children  have  a  home 
again — a  country  again.  We  in  the  North  never 
spoke  of,  never  advocated  state  sovereignty ;  it  was 
the  unenvied  privilege  of  South  Carolina  and  Cal- 
houn. We,  when  traveling  in  Europe  and  asked  from 
what  country  we  came,  always  answered  with  true 
conscious  pride:  "We  are  American  citizens."  Our 
Southern  brethren,  too,  henceforth  will  not  say:  "We 
are  from  the  South,  or  from  Georgia;"  sharing  the 

405 


MAX  ULIENTHAL, 

glory  of  the  North,  they,  too,  will  learn  to  answer, 
"We  are  American  citizens" — every  one  of  us  proud 
of  his  country,  every  one  of  us  considering  himself 
a  member  of  the  whole  Union,  everyone  willingly 
and  joyously  doing  homage  to  the  country  one  and 
indivisible  forever.  And  there  shall  no  more  be  two 
nations,  no  more  be  divided  into  two  kingdoms. 

Again  we  are  thanking  our  Lord  and  singing 
hymns  and  praises  of  glory.  We  are  standing  here 
in  the  blaze  of  victory;  we  exult  over  the  success  of 
our  armies  and  navy ;  inspired  with  gratitude  we 
teach  our  children  the  names  of  the  heroes  who  have 
won  the  day  and  saved  the  country;  but  where  is 
the  feeling  for  retaliation,  the  thirst  for  vengeance, 
the  lust  for  subjugation?  Oh!  Such  a  victory  has 
not  yet  been  celebrated  in  history.  We  have  bled  for 
the  enemy ;  we  have  fought  for  his  interest ;  we  have 
struggled  to  save  him  from  the  ambition  of  unscru- 
pulous leaders ;  we  have  suffered  only  with  the  aim 
and  purpose  that  he  shall  share  with  us  the  same 
blessings  and  the  same  duties  we  are  willing  to  be- 
queath to  our  children.  We  will  levy  no  compensa- 
tion to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  we  will  claim 
no  extra  privileges  for  being  the  conquerors.  "Lay 
down  your  arms,"  says  our  immortal  Grant,  "and  you 
will  hasten  the  most  desirable  event  of  peace."  "Lay 
down  your  arms,"  says  our  glorious  Sherman,  "re- 
voke your  secession  ordinance,  elect  your  legislature 
and  your  members  of  congress,  and  live  with  us, 
united  and  happy  under  the  same  constitution."  Oh, 
is  this  not  a  victory,  as  only  a  free  people  will 
achieve  it? 

The  Sunny  South  will  ere  long  discover  that  we 
were  her  real  sympathizers ;  that  we  alone  meant  it 

406 


THE  FLAG  AND  THE  UNION. 

well  with  her;  that  we  redeemed  her  from  bondage, 
and  by  introducing  free  labor  into  the  Southern 
States  we  will  make  them  the  Paradise  of  the  World, 
the  storehouse  of  all  nations,  the  treasury  of  immense 
wealth.  A  victory  without  a  sting  of  remorse,  with- 
out a  sting  of  reproach  to  the  repentant  foe,  repay- 
ing the  aggressor  with  twofold  blessing,  and  cover- 
ing his  hideous  crime  with  true  and  sincere  love — 
such  a  victory  can  only  be  achieved  in  our  country, 
by  our  people,  in  the  abode  of  freedom  and  equality. 

Again,  how  did  the  war  find  us?  A  great,  but  a 
peaceable  nation.  How  does  it  leave  us?  One  of  the 
grandest  military  powers  of  the  globe ;  one  of  the 
great  powers  and  umpires  of  nations.  We  thought 
we  had  a  government  only  for  peaceable  purposes — 
the  people  hardly  knew  we  had  a  government ;  it  was 
considered  the  instrument  for  measuring  out  the 
spoils,  the  loaves  and  fishes  to  the  hungry  and  greedy 
politicians.  Hence  the  lack  of  confidence  in  the  be- 
ginning; hence  the  desire  for  compromise  to  avoid 
the  impending  war;  hence  the  desire  not  to  be  dis- 
turbed in  our  peaceable  pursuits. 

The  South  knew  it  and  calculated  on  our  despon- 
dency. "The  Yankee  can  not  fight  the  Southern 
chivalry,"  was  their  broad,  self-deceiving  assertion ; 
and  the  European  powers  arranged  the  program  so 
as  to  procure  the  most  favorable  terms  from  the  new 
Southern  Empire.  How  both  were  deceived!  Our 
coast  is  now  begirt  with  fortresses ;  our  capital  is 
fortified ;  our  navy  is  the  most  formidable ;  our  army 
is  powerful  enough  to  sweep  resistlessly  from  end 
to  end  of  the  continent.  It  found  us  ignorant  of 
war;  it  leaves  us  the  first  in  military  power,  for 
armies  led  by  a  man  like  Grant,  commanded  by  men 

407 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

like  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  Thomas  and  Schofield 
will  meet  any  foe  and  prove  that  they  are  invincible. 
Oil,  how  the  English  Parliament  flatters,  praises,  ad- 
mires, but  still  more  fears  us !  How  the  abettors  of 
the  Confederacy  tremble  while  they  hear  the  joyful 
tidings  of  Grant's  incomparable  campaign !  They 
know  the  fate  of  history  is  decided ;  the  further  de- 
velopment of  mankind  will  be  directed  by  the  ideas 
vindicated  in  our  gigantic  struggle ;  they  know  the 
Chief  Justice  of  God's  nations  henceforth  will  be  the 
great  Republic  of  our  United  States !  Oh,  how  our 
hearts  are  swelling  with  national  pride !  How  de- 
voutly we  lift  hand  and  heart  to  divine  Providence, 
who  through  the  Red  Sea  of  civil  warfare  is  leading 
us  to  the  land  of  promise  and  blessing! 

Brethren,  another  cause  for  thanksgiving  is  that 
we  have  gained  a  victory  for  the  people,  who  are 
struggling  for  liberty  and  self-government.  Oh,  we 
have  fought  and  won  not  only  our  battles,  but  theirs 
also !  We  have  conquered  not  only  for  the  Union, 
but  for  the  future  Union  of  the  whole  race.  No 
longer  can  princes  assert  that  the  people  are  unfit  for 
self-government,  that  they  are  unable  to  cope  with 
difficulties,  that  the  first  shock  will  ruin  their  institu- 
tions, that  the  first  outbreak  will  pervert  liberty  into 
bloodshed  and  anarchy  (because  the  French  Revolu- 
tion with  the  wholesale  massacres  of  Robespierre  and 
Marat  have  proved  it,  and  America  is  only  a  trial, 
and  has  not  yet  stood  the  test  of  adversity,  hence  it 
needs  a  concentrated  power  at  the  helm  of  the  ship 
of  state,  a  divine  right  and  might  to  guide  it  safely 
through  the  billows  of  raging  storms!) — we  have  dis- 
pelled these  errors  and  demonstrated  to  a  civilized 
world  that  liberty  is  obedience  to  law,  that  from  the 

408 


THE  FI.AG  AND  THE   UNION. 

people  emanates  all  power,  and  that  a  free  educated 
people  is  fit  for  self-government.  We  assert  the  broad 
principle  that  liberty  is  obedience  to  law.  Not  fit  for 
self-government?  We  have  passed  through  an  ordeal 
such  as  no  other  nation  on  this  earth  could  have 
done,  and  our  banner  shines  brighter  now  than  the 
flag  of  any  other  country.  We  have  given  to  the 
nations  the  arguments  by  which  they  will  hereafter 
plead  their  cause,  and  henceforth  liberty  and  popular 
self-government  will  be  a  self-evident  truth  and  noth- 
ing will  impede  its  onward  march  to  victory. 

Oh,  yes,  we  have  fought  and  conquered  for  the 
nations  all  over  the  world,  for  by  our  victories  we 
have  reinstated  labor  in  all  its  pristine  and  becoming 
dignity.  The  French  Revolution  made  one  step  to- 
wards the  emancipation  of  the  human  race;  it  caused 
the  overthrow  of  kings  and  scattered  old  parchments ; 
it  broke  down  the  privileged  classes,  and  raised  the 
middle  classes  to  a  higher  and  more  prominent  sta- 
tion. But  the  laboring  class  still  sufifered ;  free  labor 
was  not  redeemed  till  the  North  took  up  the  gaunt- 
let. Forced  labor  is  now  gone  forever;  free  labor  is 
redeemed ;  and  for  its  redemption  a  whole  nation  has 
shed  its  best  blood. 

Oh,  the  working  classes  of  England  appreciated 
our  struggle,  and  though  suffering  starvation  did  not 
sympathize  with  King  Cotton.  They  applauded  us ; 
they  encouraged  us ;  they  admired  us ;  and  their  pray- 
ers, their  hopes  and  their  wishes  forever  were  with 
our  flag.  And  now  having  accomplished  this  gigantic 
work,  now  that  our  efforts  are  crowned  with  such 
success,  and  that  we  were  the  chosen  instruments  for 
accomplishing  such   beneficial   results    for  the   whole 


409 


MAX  UI.IENTHAI,. 

human  race,  have  we  not  sufficient  reason  for  thanks- 
giving? 

Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  Who  that  has  an 
American  heart  and  American  blood  in  his  veins, 
wlu)  that  has  come  from  other  lands,  who  hopes  for 
the  freedom  of  the  human  race,  who  that  would 
bring  light  and  happiness  to  the  nations  would  not 
rejoice,  would  not  join  us  in  thanksgiving?  Praise 
ye  the  Lord  in  the  firmanent  of  his  power!  Praise 
him  for  his  mighty  acts !  Let  everything  that  has 
breath  praise  the  Lord.     Hallelujah! 

But,  brethern,  in  conclusion  we  shall  resolve  as 
a  token  of  our  gratitude  and  our  thankful- 
ness for  all  these  blessings  bestowed  upon  us:  "In 
the  future  our  country  above  any  and  all  parties." 
The  cause  of  our  dissension  in  the  North  was  the 
unhappy  principle  that  governed  many  men — "Party 
above  all!"  In  times  of  peace  opposition  and  party 
strife  are  not  without  beneficial  influence.  Opposi- 
tion is  the  enlivening  and  correcting  spirit  of  politics, 
but  in  times  such  as  we  are  passing  through,  no  party 
interest,  no  party  principle,  nothing  but  the  country 
and  the  flag.  "Right  or  wrong — my  country!"  said 
President  Taylor,  and  every  loyal  citizen  must  en- 
dorse the  sentiment,  though  the  civil  laws  must  be 
suspended  for  a  time ;  though  the  wonted  liberty  be 
restrained  temporarily,  every  sacrifice  should  be  made 
for  the  country !  May  the  Lord  forgive  those  who 
slandered  our  good  president  for  enforcing  rules 
which  the  desperate  state  of  the  times  required ;  who 
wished  traitors  and  their  abettors  to  go  unmolested ; 
who  would  not  comprehend  the  terrible  necessity  that 
demanded  exceptionable  laws  and  legislatures.  No 
complaint  should  have  been  made  against  the  extreme 

410 


THU  FLAG  AND  THE  UNION. 

measure  adopted  by  our  president,  solely  for  the 
country's  salvation.  We  had  rather  complain  of  the 
goodness  and  mercy  of  his  heart  than  the  severity  of 
his  administration. 

Yes,  the  King  of  Prussia  was  right  when  he  said, 
"The  government  of  the  United  States  is  the  most 
merciful  and  the  most  lenient  of  all  governments," 
and  truly  we  have  the  best  government  in  all  the 
world.  In  v/hat  other  country  would  a  man  have 
been  tolerated  before  the  United  States  court,  to  as- 
sert his  allegiance  only  to  his  native  state,  but  not  to 
the  United  States?  He  would  have  been  sent  either 
as  a  traitor  and  rebel  to  a  dungeon  or  as  a  lunatic 
to  an  asylum.  Our  country  in  the  assurance  of  the 
love  of  its  citizens,  in  the  consciousness  of  majesty, 
passes  the  offender  by  in  silence.  In  the  darkest 
times  of  the  Union  there  never  was  danger  of  the 
restraint  of  personal  liberty ;  how  much  less  in  the 
days  of  victory  and  triumph !  Oh !  there  is  but  one 
country,  one  America ;  there  is  but  one  self-govern- 
ment. Let  us  swear  allegiance  to  it.  Let  our  motto 
be  forever :  "Our  country  above  and  before  any  and 
all  parties !" 

First  our  country  and  then  our  interest.  There  are 
men  speculating  on  the  defeat  of  our  armies ;  there 
is  a  gold  hole  in  the  eastern  metropolis  that  thwarted 
the  credit  of  our  country;  there  are  men  mourning 
over  commercial  losses  resulting  from  the  victories  of 
our  brave  soldiers.  Do  not  be  numbered  among 
them ;  do  not  belong  to  them,  but  let  your  motto  be : 
"First  our  country,  and  then  our  business !"  More 
sacrifices  will  yet  be  exacted  from  us ;  more  liberality 
will  yet  be  required.  Let  it  be  acceded  to  cheerfully 
and  willingly. 

411 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

Diffuse  knowledge  throughout  the  entire  breadth  of 
the  land  in  order  to  prevent  a  bloody  repetition  of 
the  drama  that  has  been  enacted  on  the  sacred  soil 
of  our  country.  Ignorance  is  the  willing  tool  of  tyr- 
anny ;  knowledge  is  power  and  the  parent  of  liberty. 
Look  at  the  past  years :  Every  state  adorned  with 
free  schools,  nursing  and  fostering  education,  stood 
loyal  to  the  country  and  the  constitution ;  every  state 
devoid  of  free  education  and  popular  instruction 
joined  secession  and  rebellion.  The  ignorant  masses 
followed  inconsiderately  the  criminal  leaders,  while 
the  enlightened  North  stood  faithfully  and  manfully 
by  its  duties. 

Education  fosters  loyalty ;  ignorance  promotes  every 
crime.  In  the  beginning  of  the  war  our  arsenals 
were  empty ;  our  country  was  defenseless,  but  our 
schools  were  filled  and  crowded  and  the  spirit  of  en- 
lightenment prevailed. 

Let  there  be  no  hatred,  no  vengeance  against  the 
South.  Let  the  leaders  feel  the  majesty  of  the  law ; 
but  to  repentant  rebels  give  pardon,  mercy  and  broth- 
erly love.  They  have  sowed  the  wind  and  reaped  the 
whirlwind.  Fierce  retribution  like  burning  lava  rolls 
over  the  South ;  it  has  found  anguish  and  suffering 
in  the  dregs  of  that  cup  which  it  prepared  for  the 
nation  four  years  ago :  let  this  anguish  and  desolation 
be  the  sacrifice  of  atonement. 

Let  us  now  show  that  we  can  be  as  magnanimous 
in  peace  as  terrible  in  war;  that  we  will  so  temper 
justice  with  mercy  as  to  take  the  sting  from  defeat ; 
that  we  can  conquer  without  subjugation ;  that  we  are 
willing  to  invest  with  equal  dignity  as  citizens  and 
countrymen  those  who  by  their  valor  and  endurance. 


412 


THE  FLAG  AND  THE  UNION. 

though  in  a  bad  cause,  have  estabHshed  their  equality 
of  manhood. 

Across  the  fresh  graves  of  our  brethren  let  us 
clasp  hands  with  every  repentant  rebel  who  returns ; 
let  our  thanksgiving  prayer  rise  to  divine  mercy  on 
the  wings  of  pardon  and  forgiveness  to  our  erring 
brother. 

But  if  charity  is  required  toward  him,  how  much 
more  to  our  unfortunate  brethren,  and  here  I  mean 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  families  of  the  soldiers, 
to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  fallen  heroes.  It 
is  true,  we  have  done  much  all  over  the  Union  for 
their  relief  and  their  assistance;  the  records  of  our 
sanitary  fairs,  of  our  soldier  testimonials  and  of  our 
Relief  Unions  prove  to  mankind  that  America  is 
the  most  charitable  country  in  the  world.  Every 
single  city  of  any  commercial  importance  has  done 
more  than  whole  nations  on  the  other  side  of  the 
continent  under  like  circumstances. 

Oh,  let  us  then  in  our  joy  not  forget  those  who 
reaped  for  us  this  victory ;  we  owe  them  a  debt, 
larger,  much  larger  than  our  national  one.  Let  this 
liability  be  met  with  a  spirit  full  of  gratitude  and 
reverence.  If  a  soldier's  widow  stretches  her  hand 
or  begs  for  work,  give  it  to  her ;  if  a  soldier's  orphan 
accost  you,  help  and  assist  him — his  father  has 
fought  for  you,  for  us ;  if  a  man  on  crutches,  a  crip- 
ple with  one  arm  passes  by  you,  notice  him,  give  him, 
relieve  him  before  all  others — he  can  not  live  from 
the  scanty  pension  allowed  him  by  the  government. 
Then  will  we  celebrate  this  day  in  a  becoming  spirit ; 
then  will  we  truly  honor  the  flag  of  the  brave;  then 
amidst  our  own  rejoicing  will  we  gladden  the  hearts 
of  the  South ;  a  smile  will  return  to  their  lips,  hope 

413 


MAX  LILIENTHAL. 

will  be  rekindled  in  their  fainting  breasts — they,  too, 
will  join  the  chorus  of  the  nation. 

In  conclusion,  brethren,  we  give  thanks  today  be- 
cause the  sun  of  liberty  has  risen  again  in  all  its 
pristine  transplendent  beauty,  its  rays  undimmed,  its 
light  untarnished,  and  now  sheds  its  glorious  warmth 
over  a  nation  which  will  soon,  as  in  days  of  yore, 
know  no  North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West;  we 
give  thanks  for  the  manifest  blessings  with  which  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  has  seen  fit  to  crown  our  arms ;  we 
give  thanks  because  our  glorious  banner  of  freedom 
will  soon  again  wave  from  the  forests  of  Maine  to 
the  sunny  shores  of  the  Gulf,  from  the  golden  sands 
of  California  to  the  rock-bound  coasts  of  Florida, 
over  an  undivided  people. 

"Great  God !  we  thank  thee  for  the  home, 

This  bounteous  birthland  of  the  free! 
Where  wanderers  from  afar  may  come 

And  breathe  the  air  of  liberty. 
Still  may  her  flowers  untrampled  spring! 

Her  harvests  wave;  her  cities  rise! 
And  yet  till  Time  shall  fold  his  wing, 

Remain  earth's  loveliest  Paradise." 


414 


THE   ASSASSINATION    OF   PRESIDENT    LINCOLN. 


THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT 
LINCOLN.^ 

Brethren,  is  this  the  same  flag  which  a  grateful 
and  victorious  people  but  a  few  days  ago  was  greet- 
ing with  the  intensest  national  pride  and  national  joy? 
Why  droop  today  its  brilliant  stars,  its  mighty  stripes  ? 
Why  is  it  draped  in  mourning?  And  this  bust, 
crowned  but  a  few  days  ago  with  the  laurel  wreath 
of  fresh  and  decisive  victories,  why  does  it  look  so 
pale?  Why,  too,  is  it  craped  and  hidden?  Why  are 
we  frightened  today  as  we  look  upon  its  mild  and  good 
features  ? 

Alas,  this  is  a  gloomy  day !  From  the  dawn  of 
American  history  up  to  this  mournful  hour  such  an 
assemblage  has  never  convened.  We  have  buried  our 
Washington  and  our  Jefferson,  our  Franklin  and  our 
Jackson,  but  such  a  meeting  has  never  been  wit- 
nessed. These  patriots  were  full  of  years  and  full 
of  honors ;  their  task  had  been  finished,  and,  resigned 
to  the  stern  laws  of  nature,  a  grateful  people  accom- 
panied them  quietly  to  their  resting  place.  But  today 
the  feelings  of  the  nation  are  aroused  as  never  be- 
fore ;  a  new  crime  has  made  its  way  into  the  land  of 
our  Republic  and  "Murder !  Murder !"  is  the  agoniz- 
ing cry  that  echoes  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific. 

Oh,   on  the   fatal   Saturday  morning  that  brought 

'  Address  delivered  at  the  Broadway  Synagogue,  April  22, 
1865. 

415 


MAX  UUENTIIAL,. 

US  such  gloomy  tidings,  when  we  were  prepared  to 
read  only  of  the  festivities  of  the  nation,  and  to  en- 
joy once  more  the  jubilee  of  the  preceding  day !  We 
hurried  to  the  telegraphic  despatches — what  letters 
are  these  ?  What  do  they  mean  ?  We  were  unwilling 
to  trust  our  senses.  We  could  not  realize  at  first  the 
stern  truth.  But  when  we  recovered  from  our  first 
shock,  when  we  became  convinced  of  the  terrible 
reality,  then  the  heart  of  the  nation  stood  still — 
breathless,  lifeless,  paralyzed!  And  when  the  tears 
began  to  relieve  our  stupefaction,  the  lips  quivered 
with  the  heart-rending  exclamation :  "Oh,  God !  our 
good  president  has  been  assassinated!" 

That  was  a  terrible  morning,  indeed!  People  were 
running  to  and  fro,  restless,  comfortless,  pursued  in 
all  streets  by  the  same  bewildered  uneasiness,  void  of 
speech,  void  of  thought — for  we  had  not  yet  learned 
to  read  and  to  understand  a  page  of  American  his- 
tory written  by  the  dagger  of  an  assassin. 

Indeed,  a  great  man  has  fallen  in  Israel!  There 
never  sat  in  the  presidential  chair  of  this  country  a 
man  who,  by  his  life,  as  well  as  by  his  death,  so 
fully  demonstrated  the  progress  of  modern  ideas  and 
the  greatness  and  glory  of  our  institutions.  Disre- 
garding the  sterling  virtues  of  the  individual  man,  it 
seems  as  if  it  had  been  his  manifest  destiny  to  im- 
press upon  the  people  the  invaluable  privilege  of  our 
laws  and  our  institutions.  The  nation  feels  this,  and 
hence  at  the  shrine  of  the  assassinated  body  ofifers 
prayers  and  thanks  for  having  witnessed  the  example 
of  such  a  man's  life;  thinks  herself  especially  in- 
debted to  him  and  to  his  memory,  and  mourns  his 
loss  so  much  the  more  deeply. 

Who  was  Abraham   Lincoln?     The  first   laborer- 

416 


THE   ASSASSINATION    OF   PRDSID^NT    UNCOI^N. 

president !  Of  his  antecedents  nothing  can  be  said 
except  that  he  had  risen  by  his  own  energies  from 
the  obscurest  sphere  of  hfe.  He  had  battled  with  all 
manner  of  personal  difficulties  and  had  overcome 
them ;  he  had  struggled  against  all  obstacles  and  had 
conquered  them;  and  by  his  sagacity,  energy  and  un- 
sophisticated honesty  succeeded  in  being  elected  to  the 
highest  office  within  the  gift  of  the  people.  And  thus 
his  election  proved  for  the  first  time  the  full  mean- 
ing of  American  liberty  and  equality. 

The  people,  the  laboring  classes  all  over  the  world, 
were  now  emancipated  indeed ;  their  rights  were  not 
a  mere  dead  letter — they  were  now  sealed  and  signed 
by  the  majestic  hand  of  history.  In  Abraham  Lin- 
coln the  workingmen  were  raised  to  the  full  acquisi- 
tion of  the  infinite  rights  of  man.  "Despair  not," 
says  his  example,  "because  you  are  born  in  an  ob- 
scure station ;  be  not  disheartened  because  you  must 
wrestle  with  the  disadvantages  of  the  want  of  edu- 
cation— life  is  the  best  school ;  energy  and  persever- 
ance the  best  teacher;  honesty  of  purpose  the  best 
means  for  obtaining  success."  Follow  his  example 
and  we  shall  finally  and  in  fact  establish  the  equality 
of  mankind.  He  has  achieved  this  triumph,  and  a 
whole  world  stands  there  first  amazed,  and  then  ad- 
miring the  man  who,  by  his  own  indomitable  energy, 
proves  the  greatness  and  glory  of  our  institutions. 

But  not  this  fact  alone  endears  him  to  the  Amer- 
ican heart  and  to  liberty-loving  people  all  over  the 
world !  He  laid  still  firmer  hold  on  our  affections  by 
being  the  truest  representative  of  our  boundless  and 
invincible  love  for  the  Union  and  our  flag.  There 
lives  no  man  in  this  country  in  whom  the  people  had 
more  implicit  confidence  that  he  would  not  surrender 

417 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

the  Union,  cost  what  it  may.  "The  Union  must  and 
shall  be  saved !"  was  the  unwavering  motto  of  his  ad- 
ministration ;  "Union  first !"  In  the  north  he  tried 
all  means  to  reconcile  the  party  spirit.  He  called  to 
his  aid  every  man  of  the  Democratic  party  in  whose 
loyalty  he  could  place  his  trust;  Stanton  and  Grant 
and  Sherman  and  a  host  of  other  Democrats  were 
called  to  the  most  important  offices  of  the  govern- 
ment. "Let  the  party  spirit  be  silent,"  was  his  re- 
quest, "till  the  Union  is  saved ;  for  Heaven's  sake, 
put  the  country  above  the  party !  And  toward  the 
South?  Lay  down  your  arms,  reconstruct  the  Union, 
and  I  am  ready  to  receive  you  with  open  arms,"  was 
his  prayer — the  words  of  his  proclamation  amnesty. 
He  was  the  true  interpreter  of  our  feelings  toward 
the  South.  We  did  love  her  in  spite  of  all  her 
crimes,  and  he  did  love  her  too.  We  wanted  to  ex- 
tend pardon  to  every  repentant  rebel,  and  he  was 
ready  to  grant  it  in  the  fullness  of  his  executive 
power.  We  were  willing  to  forget  the  hecatombs  of 
blood  and  treasure,  provided  the  old  flag  were  ac- 
knowledged again  throughout  the  insurgent  states ; 
he,  too,  though  weeping  with  the  widow  and  mourn- 
ing with  the  orphan,  was  willing  to  cover  treason  and 
rebellion  with  the  mantle  of  love  and  clemency.  But 
for  the  Union  he  stood,  immovable  as  the  North  star, 
and  hence  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  his  integ- 
rity, in  his  constancy.  He  was  reelected  for  the  sec- 
ond term,  not  by  politicians,  not  by  the  wirepulling 
of  hungry  office-seekers,  but  by  the  stern  voice  of  the 
people,  who  knew  that  in  his  hands  their  wishes  for 
the  South  and  the  safety  of  the  Union  were  best 
cared  for.  His  sincerity,  the  simplicity  of  his  heart, 
and  the  homely  shrewdness  of  his  mind  were  to  the 

418 


TH^   ASSASSINATION    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN. 

people  the  best  guarantees  against  the  mtrigues  of 
diplomacy,  or  the  connivances  of  party  passions.  And 
the  Union  was  saved  under  his  administration — estab- 
lished upon  a  platform  broader  and  firmer  than  un- 
der either  Washington  or  Jackson.  Not  a  Union  half 
free  and  half  slave;  not  a  Union  of  semi-independent 
sovereignties ;  not  a  Union  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line;  not  a  Union  floating  on  the  border  ruffianism 
of  a  Missouri  Compromise ;  but  a  Union  one  and 
indivisible,  free  from  north  to  south,  and  east  to 
west — a  supreme  power  superior  to  all  state  sover- 
eignties. The  dangers  which  Washington  predicted, 
past ;  the  threats  which  Jackson  uttered,  fulfilled ;  and 
over  a  redeemed  and  new-born  country  floated  the 
star-spangled  banner,  stained  with  the  fresh  blood  of 
its  heroes,  but  with  the  stripes  in  all  their  grandeur 
and  with  the  thirty-six  stars  in  all  their  splendor. 
What  wonder  we  began  to  look  on  him  as  the  in- 
carnation of  our  Union !  We  revered  him ;  we  loved 
him ;  we  regarded  him  as  a  man  of  superior  destiny, 
and  entrusted  willingly  and  thankfully  to  him  the 
helm  of  our  ship. 

But  what  his  life  could  not  accomplish  to  make 
him  the  full  representative  of  our  institutions  and  the 
true  interpreter  of  the  character  of  our  people  fell  to 
the  lot  of  his  death.  If  he  had  lingered  on  his  sick- 
bed and  died  a  natural  death,  the  calamity  then,  too, 
would  have  been  a  national  one,  but  it  would  not 
have  taught  us  a  new  and  important  lesson.  In  the 
midst  of  civil  warfare,  in  the  midst  of  still  living 
party  passions,  to  fall  by  the  dagger  of  an  assassin, 
suddenly,  unexpectedly  and  with  no  revolution,  no 
anarchy,  no  outbreak,  but  everywhere  respect  for  the 
law,  willing  submission  to  the  constituted  authority, 

419 


MAX  ULI^NTHAI,. 

the  machinery  of  government  neither  interrupted  nor 
out  of  order — that  lesson  fills  us  with  new  reverence 
for  our  almost  superhuman  institutions  and  makes 
the  republic  still  more  precious  in  our  estimation  than 
ever  before.  And  this  lesson  we  have  learned  by 
the  death  of  our  lamented  president ;  his  blood  was 
the  great  seal  that  was  affixed  to  republican  govern- 
ment and  republican  institutions.  Who  henceforth 
will  contest  the  vitality,  the  possibility,  the  efficiency 
of  free  institutions?  Who  hereafter  will  deny  that 
the  history  of  this  nation  outshines  all  other  nations 
in  respect  for  law  and  order? 

The  hand  of  death  hallows  every  human  corpse, 
enshrines  every  deathbed  with  a  sanctifying  halo ; 
but  how  much  more  the  coffin  of  our  illustrious  mar- 
tyr! We  stand  with  feelings  of  awe  and  reverence 
at  the  side  of  such  a  martyr  and  such  a  sacrifice. 
But  the  sight  is  too  overwhelming;  the  meaning  of 
such  a  life  and  death  overawes  our  innermost  soul. 
We  turn  away  and  our  heart  longs  for  the  object  to 
whom  our  love  and  our  affection  were  devoted.  We 
gaze  no  longer  at  the  hero  and  patriot — we  look  at 
the  man  and  the  friend.  And  what  a  change — this 
man  who  was  without  pride  and  ostentation,  who  had 
a  smile  for  everyone  and  everything,  a  welcoming 
grasp  and  winning  word — is  this  the  man  who  was 
identified  with  the  nation's  terrible  struggle  and  its 
deliverence?  Yes,  this  man  was  Lincoln;  behind  this 
homely  appearance  once  beat  a  heart  full  of  faith, 
love  and  charity ;  within  this  heart  once  throned  an 
integrity  that  escaped  suspicion  in  the  most  corrupt 
time.  All  the  foul  slanders  of  his  enemies  and  his 
opponents  could  excite  in  him  neither  anger  nor  ha- 
tred ;  his  good  humor  assisted  him  in  overcoming  the 

420 


the;    assassination    of    president    IvINCOLN. 

onerous  duties  of  his  office  and  the  malice  of  his  as- 
sistants ;  he  often  enUvened  conversation  by  an  apt 
anecdote ;  he  indulged  in  sallies  of  wit,  but  they  left 
no  sting-  behind.  His  heart  was  as  good  as  his  con- 
science was  just  and  clear.  He  could  do  no  harm ; 
he  could  not  mistrust ;  he  could  not  punish ;  he  could 
only  love  and  forgive ;  he  was  bent  only  on  grace  and 
reconciliation.  Stern  to  himself,  he  was  lenient  to- 
ward others ;  faithful  to  his  trust  and  his  duties,  he 
could  not  mistrust  others ;  knowing  the  obstacles  he 
himself  had  to  overcome,  he  had  an  excuse  for  the 
tardiness  and  the  shortcomings  of  others.  When 
everyone  pointed  to  faults  and  mistakes,  he  was  still 
hopeful  and  waited  for  improvement ;  when  everyone 
desponded  and  despaired,  he  still  had  faith  in  the 
sacred  cause  of  his  mission ;  and  then,  only  then, 
when  the  success  of  his  sacred  charge  was  at  stake, 
did  he  strike  the  blow  which  others  would  have 
dealt  long  before. 

What  wonder  that  such  amiableness  won  him  the 
love  and  respect  of  all  those  who  knew  him — who 
had  spoken  to  him!  What  wonder  that  this  faithful- 
ness to  his  charge  at  last  won  him  the  respect  even 
of  the  rebel  press  in  Richmond !  What  wonder  that 
this  combination  of  unselfish  patriotism  with  such 
kindness  of  heart  and  shrewdness  of  mind  obtained 
for  him  the  admiration  of  Europe!  His  last  inau- 
gural address  raised  him  to  the  pinnacle  of  fame ; 
he  was  on  the  point  of  being  compared,  by  the  im- 
partial press  of  England,  with  Washington,  Hampden 
and  Cromwell.  The  nation  began  to  feel  proud  of 
him ;  the  country  began  to  be  assured  of  a  happy 
termination  of  this  terrible  struggle  with  a  harvest 
full  of  peace  and  the  blessings  of  reconciliation;  the 

421 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

nations  were  looking  for  a  new  birthday  of  human 
Hberty,  inaugurated  by  the  labor-president ;  and  his 
words  became  as  full  of  influence  as  any  of  the 
sovereigns  of  the  great  powers. 

And  these  hopes  were  blighted  by  foul  premedi- 
tated assassination !  These  anticipations  were  frus- 
trated by  the  dagger  of  a  murderer!  Brethren,  the 
first  wild  excitement  that  so  justly  aroused  all  has 
passed  away,  and  now  we  do  not  know  which  shall 
we  condemn  the  more — the  atrocity  of  the  crime  or 
the  folly  and  madness  of  the  murderer?  Whom — 
what  did  he  slaughter?  Was  Lincoln  a  Julius  Caesar, 
whose  ambition,  military  genius,  and  indomitable  en- 
ergy represented  and  supported  a  new  order  of 
things  ?  Was  Lincoln  a  man  like  Louis  XIV,  who 
declared,  "I  am  the  State?"  Lincoln  was  no  Caesar, 
no  Henry  IV,  no  William  of  Orange,  no  Louis  XIV. 
He  was  neither  the  military  genius  of  this  war,  that 
by  his  death  our  armies  were  deprived  of  their 
leader ;  nor  was  he  a  pioneer  standing  alone  and 
aloof  in  his  age;  nor  did  he  represent  a  concentrated 
power  like  Louis  XIV — he  was  nothing  but  the  ex- 
ponent of  the  sovereign  will  of  the  people;  nothing 
but  the  elected  executive  of  the  people's  government; 
nothing  but  the  representative  of  the  idea  of  uni- 
versal freedom  as  enunciated  in  1860  and  endorsed 
by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  in  1864. 
You  may  kill  a  man,  but  you  can  not  kill  a  nation. 
You  may  kill  the  temporary  executive,  but  you  can 
not  assassinate  the  government.  In  the  hour  of  de- 
feat and  surrender,  in  the  hour  of  hopeless  prostra- 
tion at  the  feet  of  your  conqueror,  you  murder  him 
who  alone  was  able  to  save  you ;  who  invested  by 
the  people  with  the  sovereign  power  of  pardon  and 

422 


THS    ASSASSINATION    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN. 

clemency  was  willing  to  forgive  and  to  pardon  you ; 
who  seeing  still  in  the  rebel  foe  only  a  prodigal  son 
of  the  Union  was  willing  to  receive  you  back  with 
loving  arms.  Madman,  stop!  You  strike  your  best, 
your  truest  friend!  In  vain  the  victim  falls  and  reels 
in  his  blood ! 

"God  help  the  South,"  exclaimed  a  rebel  major  in 
Washington  when  he  heard  the  stunning  tidings. 
"That  is  the  severest  blow  the  South  has  yet  re- 
ceived," cried  out  Colonel  Ould.  The  hour  of  mercy 
is  past;  the  day  of  bloody  retaliation  is  dawning. 
O  God,  why  dost  thou  allow  our  brethren  in  the 
South  to  be  so  terribly  misled  by  their  leaders?  Why 
must  they  empty  the  cup  of  sin  and  crime  to  its  last 
dregs?  Was  the  rebellion  not  enough  that  brought 
mourning  to  every  hearthstone  and  misery  to  every 
fireside;  that  robbed  the  cradle  and  grave  and  swept 
with  ruin  and  desolation  throughout  the  land — why 
yet  that  villainous  crime  of  assassination?  There 
she  stands  now  disgraced  before  the  world — the 
Cain's  mark  on  the  dejected  brow.  All  sympathy  is 
lost  for  her,  all  pity  with  the  vanquished  is  gone 
for  her ;  the  assassin  is  shunned,  given  up  to  law's 
bloody  vengeance.  The  nations  despise  her,  the 
princes  will  hate  her  for  giving  such  an  example ; 
her  negroes  will  exult  for  having  obtained  license  for 
murder  and  assassination.  May  the  Lord  have  mercy 
on  your  poor  souls ! 

But  no,  brethren,  we  are  assembled  to  do  homage 
to  his  memory ;  we  have  come  to  do  honor  to  his 
great  and  good  name.  Let  us  not  desecrate  this 
solemn  hour  by  thoughts  of  vengeance  and  outbursts 
of  indignation,  becoming  to  the  first  moment  of  wild 
and   inconsiderate   excitement,   but    not    befitting   the 

423 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

calm  and  magnanimous  character  of  a  free  and  vic- 
torious nation.  Do  you  wish  to  honor  his  memory 
indeed?  Do  you  intend  to  hand  down  to  posterity 
his  name  in  all  its  grandeur  and  glory,  unstained  by 
passion  and  untarnished  by  violence?  Consider  the 
legacy  he  has  left  you,  execute  it  in  the  sense  he  was 
willing  to  finish  his  great  work.  To  finish  the  work 
he  has  begun ;  to  do  it  with  that  spirit  of  justice  and 
firmness  he  has  taught  and  shown  us ;  to  perform 
our  duties  with  that  sincere  aspiration  for  universal 
happiness,  without  any  desire  to  satisfy  a  momentary 
passion  or  impulse,  however  justifiable  it  may  be — 
this  is  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  honor  the  de- 
parted and  celebrate  this  hour  in  a  manner  becoming 
the  great  man  who  is  gathered  to  his  predecessors. 

Be  men,  before,  and  above  all — cool,  calm  and  dis- 
passionate. He  has  set  us  the  example,  and  by  fol- 
lowing his  teachings  we  will  honor  his  memory.  His 
disposition  was  not  turned  to  passion  by  the  bloodi- 
ness of  his  time.  Obliged  to  make  his  way  privately 
through  a  slave  state  to  escape  a  plot  to  assassinate 
him  on  his  way  to  the  capitol  to  assume  his  office; 
ridiculed  for  his  precautions  by  those  who  desired 
his  death;  made  the  object  of  abuse  so  foul  and  ma- 
lignant that  it  would  have  aroused  implacable  animos- 
ity in  any  man  of  ordinary  human  feelings,  he  re- 
tained his  moderation  of  temper,  his  self-command, 
sound  judgment,  rectitude  of  intention  and  kind  dis- 
position. He  closed  his  life  with  an  act  of  unexam- 
pled magnanimity  and  clemency  by  dismissing  the 
armed  leaders  of  the  rebellion  to  their  homes,  that 
they  might  return  to  peace  and  equal  rights  in  the 
country  they  had  deluged  with  blood.  Let  us  profit 
by  his  almost  divine  example.     The  arm  of  the  law 

424 


THS  ASSASSINATION    01^   PRESIDElNT   LINCOLN. 

is  strong;  the  eye  of  justice  is  sharp  and  watchful; 
the  constituted  authorities  will  do  their  duties  fully 
and  solemnly  to  bring  the  criminals  and  their  abettors 
to  light,  and  to  the  bar  of  punishment.  Let  us  not 
take  justice  into  our  hands.  No  mob  and  no  an- 
archy ! 

I  know  that  the  suspicion  of  a  widespread  con- 
spiracy is  aroused  in  many  a  mind.  We  think  our- 
selves justified  in  tracing  the  root  of  the  atrocious 
crime  to  other  men  than  those  who  committed  the 
bloody  deed.  This  may  be;  but  leave  it  to  the  proper 
hands — they  will  find  the  guilty  ones.  We  have 
stood  the  trial  of  rebellion  and  we  have  broken  it ; 
we  stood  the  horrors  of  the  battlefields  and  their  ag- 
onies, and  we  have  conquered ;  let  us  stand  the  trial 
of  this  gloomy  hour,  too,  and  all  danger  will  soon 
have  vanished. 

The  world,  which  we  have  taught  that  a  free  peo- 
ple is  able  to  support  and  defend  its  government, 
must  also  learn  that  a  free  people  considers  liberty 
to  be  respect  for  the  law  under  any,  even  the  most 
stirring  circumstances,  and  that  anarchy  has  nothing 
in  common  with  the  spirit  of  true  freedom.  Hence 
be  cool,  calm  and  dispassionate. 

This  remark  does  not  imply,  of  course,  that  the 
sword  of  justice  shall  be  sheathed,  that  treason  shall 
reserve  an  homage  of  mercy,  that  arson  and  murder 
and  pillage  shall  go  on  unpunished  and  that  all  will 
be  forgotten  if  only  the  union  be  restored.  No, 
brethren,  it  means  only:  justice,  but  no  vengeance! 
It  was  the  only  fault  of  our  lamented  president,  and 
he  had  to  pay  for  it  with  his  precious  life,  that  he 
believed  he  could  reconcile  the  bitter  enemies  of  this 
country  by  pardon  and  mercy  and  win  them  over  to 

425 


MAX  UUlvNTHAL. 

the  sacred  cause  of  our  united  republic.  To  allow 
a  man  like  Booth — a  man  who,  on  the  stage  of  New 
Orleans,  trampled  upon  our  flag — trampled  on  it  and 
disgraced  it — to  allow  such  a  man  to  go  free  and  un- 
molested in  our  capital  was  a  fatal  error,  a  disastrous 
mistake,  and  the  whole  country  has  to  sufifer  and  to 
mourn  for  it.  No !  the  days  of  leniency  with  rebel 
leaders  are  gone;  the  days  of  indulgence  with  open 
conspirators  and  their  aiders  and  abettors  are  past — 
crime  must  be  punished;  the  majesty  of  the  law  must 
be  vindicated.  We  owe  that  to  our  self-preservation; 
we  are  prompted  to  do  it  from  motives  of  mere  self- 
defense. 

Secessionists  in  our  midst  must  be  silenced ;  rebel 
sympathizers  must  be  hushed.  Let  them  beware  to 
arouse  the  fury  of  the  insulted  and  afflicted  nation! 
Yes,  justice  must  be  met.  Whosoever  sheds  man's 
blood,  his  blood  must  be  shed ;  but  brethren,  let  this 
be  done  by  the  proper  authorities ;  let  it  be  done  with 
the  stern  calmness  and  majesty  of  the  law — justice 
and  no  vengeance.  Vengeance  strikes  the  guilty  and 
the  innocent.  Vengeance  would  tarnish  our  victory, 
disgrace  our  history,  and  miss  the  aim  of  our  en- 
deavors to  reconstruct  the  country.  There  are  thou- 
sands in  the  South  who  abhor  the  crime  committed 
in  our  midst ;  there  are  thousands  waiting  eagerly  for 
an  opportunity  of  renewing  their  allegiance  to  our 
constitution ;  shall  we  estrange  them  from  our  cause 
by  unmerited  punishment?  Shall  we  drive  them  to 
despair  and  a  second  rebellion  by  coupling  the  re- 
pentant sinner  with  the  guilty  criminal  and  leader? 
No,  brethren.  "Justice  and  no  vengeance"  must 
henceforth  be  our  motto.  "Justice  and  no  vengeance" 
must  be  the  sacred  vow  of  this  day  by  which  we  honor 

426 


the;   assassination    Olf    president    LINCOLN. 

the  memory  of  the  departed,  and  assist  in  carrying 
out  the  work  to  which  his  virtuous  and  noble  life 
was  devoted. 

Thirdly,  in  this  solemn  and  mournful  hour,  by  the 
grave  of  the  assassinated  president,  let  us  renew  our 
own  promise  that  neither  life  nor  treasure  shall  be 
spared  until  the  Union  shall  be  restored  in  all  its 
majesty  and  integrity.  If  the  murder  was  not  the 
mere  result  of  passionate  madness ;  if  it  was  not  the 
mere  offspring  of  personal  hatred  and  inconsiderate 
vengeance;  if  in  the  council  of  those  who  projected 
it,  planned  it,  and  may  be,  prayed  for  it,  this  foul 
crime  had  some  meaning:  it  was  the  intent  to  par- 
alyze the  strong  arm  of  the  nation  and  to  wrest  from 
us  in  the  final  hour  of  victory  the  palm  of  success 
and  glory.  Let  us  prove  to  them  that  as  futile  as 
were  their  calculations  about  the  weakness  and  the 
division  of  sentiment  in  the  North  at  the  outbreak  of 
this  wicked  rebellion,  so  false  and  absurd  were  their 
estimates  at  the  planning  and  ,the  execution  of  this 
murder.  Let  us  show  them  that  the  strength  of  the 
republic  lies  in  the  integrity  of  the  people,  which  no 
assassin  can  destroy.  Let  them  understand  that  it  was 
even  strengthened  by  the  dastardly  act  which  took 
the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Let  them  learn  that 
this  calamity  binds  us  closer  to  our  country ;  that  to 
a  considerable  extent  it  has  already  healed  divisions ; 
and  that  in  this  hour  this  flag,  redeemed  from  rebel- 
lion and  treason,  appears  to  us  more  precious  than 
ever.  Let  us  rally  round  our  banner  and  do  our  duty 
manfully  and  thoroughly.  Let  us  rally  round  the 
man  who  now  holds  the  responsible  and  onerous  of- 
fice of  chief  magistrate,  and  let  him  have  our  hearty 
and  undivided  support.     Let  a  mistake,  though  dis- 

427 


MAX  UUENTHAIv. 

played  under  circumstances  which  caused  national 
mortification,  not  undermine  our  confidence  in  the 
man;  his  past  life,  his  martyrdom  for  the  sacred 
cause  of  ths  union,  is  the  best  guarantee  that  he  will 
prove  himself  worthy  of  the  high  office!  Let  him 
have  our  best  wishes,  our  most  fervent  prayers.  Be- 
ing a  southern  man  himself,  he  knows  better  than 
any  man  in  the  North  how  to  distinguish  between 
southern  people  and  their  leaders.  With  stern  jus- 
tice in  the  right  hand,  he  will  move  forward,  temper- 
ing it  with  mercy,  and  offering  the  olive  branch  of 
pardon  and  peace.  Let  us  be  confident  that  the  ex- 
ecutive office  is  safe  in  his  hands,  and  that  he  will 
carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  loyal  people  in  closing 
the  rebellion.  And  when  that  day  will  come  on  which 
he  will  lay  down  on  the  grave  of  our  murdered  chief 
as  a  tribute  of  the  people,  the  flag  of  the  country, 
no  star  missing,  no  star  darkened,  all  redeemed  in 
their  brightest  glory,  all  shining  in  one  glorious  con- 
stellation, when  he  then  will  say:  "The  work  thou 
hast  begun  is  done  and  finished;  the  Union  is  now  a 
Union  in  reality,  the  people  are  now  an  undivided 
nation  in  sentiment  and  institutions,  and  this  end  was 
attained  by  the  hearty  support  of  the  people,  and  by 
their  implicit  confidence  in  their  government;"  breth- 
ren, then  we  will  have  honored  the  memory  of  the 
departed;  then  we  will  have  celebrated  this  hour  in 
a  manner  becoming  the  principles  he  proclaimed; 
then  we  may  erect  a  monument  with  the  epitaph : 
"A  free,  united  and  grateful  nation  to  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, the  preserver  of  the  Union !" 

Yes,  illustrious  martyr,  this  is  the  vow  we  make, 
swearing  on  the  blood  of  thy  wounds ;  these  are  the 
resolutions  we  are  forming  in  this  solemn  hour  of 

428 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN — AN    APPRECIATION. 

national  grief  and  national  mourning.  Thou  shalt  not 
have  lived,  thou  shalt  not  have  toiled  and  labored, 
to  no  purpose.  We  take  up  thy  legacy,  and  will  ex- 
ecute it  faithfully  and  thoroughly;  we  will  cleanse 
this  land  from  treason  and  rebellion,  that  the  country 
shall  not  be  deluged  again  with  the  lifeblood  of  its 
children.  We  will  forgive,  as  his  example  has  taught 
us,  the  repentant  sinner.  Over  the  fresh  grave  of  our 
hero  we  will  take  him  back  to  our  heart,  sharing 
with  him  our  blessings  and  our  rights.  We  will,  as 
thou  hast  admonished  us,  cooperate  in  regenerating 
the  southern  half  of  our  Union,  and  repay  the  misery 
she  has  brought  to  our  homes  with  unlimited  love 
and  mercy.  We  will  stand  firm  to  our  government 
and  to  our  flag  till  the  work  thou  hast  so  gloriously 
begun  shall  come  to  a  still  more  glorious  end.  Smile 
on !  They  can  not  bury  the  principle  thou  hast  be- 
queathed us ;  thy  name  shall  be  as  immortal  as  the 
truth  of  thy  teaching.  Abraham  Lincoln,  friend  of 
the  people,  the  poor  and  the  slave,  farewell!  We 
will  cherish  and  revere  thy  memory  forever ;  for  thou 
wast  great,  because  thou  wast  good,  and  thou  wast 
good  because  thou  wast  great.  Farewell  till  God 
grants  us  a  meeting  in  eternity. 


429 


MAX  UUENTHAI,. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN— AN   APPRECIATION.^ 

The  Proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ordering  us  to  convene  in  our  houses  of  divine 
worship  and  to  mourn  for  the  untimely  loss  of  our 
lamented  martyr  president,  Abraham  Lincoln,  conies 
too  late.  Tears  and  mourning,  sorrow  and  grief,  can 
not  be  commanded.  They  are  the  genuine  and  spon- 
taneous expressions  of  feelings  wrung  from  the  heart 
of  men.  They  are  the  almost  involuntary  tribute  we 
pay  to  the  saddening  events  of  life.  They  are  the 
simple  language  of  nature. 

Mourn  for  Lincoln!  Honor  the  illustrious  dead! 
Was  an  order  needed?  Since  history  began  to  record 
the  deeds  and  sentiments  of  men,  there  never  was  a 
man  mourned  and  lamented  for — never  a  deceased 
man  honored  as  Lincoln  was.  Our  president  in  life, 
he  has  become  by  death  the  president  in  a  sort  of  a 
United  States  of  the  civilized  world.  "If  plain  and 
unpretending  Lincoln,"  said  even  the  London  Times, 
"had  been  the  imperial  representative  and  heir  of  all 
the  emperors  and  kings  that  had  ruled  the  world  for 
a  thousand  years,  and  had  been  as  conspicuous  for 
his  illustrious  birth  and  unquestionable  power  as  for 
his  virtues  and  goodness,  his  cruel  and  untimely 
death  could  not  have  been  mourned  with  more  deep- 
rooted  and  spontaneous  afifection."  Calumny  and 
prejudice  had  died  with  him,  and  the  civilized  world, 

^  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Broadway  Synagogue,  Cincinnati, 
June  10,  1865. 

430 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN — AN    APPRECIATION. 

forming  one  grand  chorus,  united  in  singing  his 
praise  and  bewaiHng  his  loss.  What  more  could  we 
wish  him?  What  more  could  we  do?  The  nation 
mourned  a  father;  the  world  a  benefactor  and  com- 
mon friend.  Greater  reward  can  not  be  bestowed  on 
any  mortal  man.  It  is  the  highest  tribute  possible  to 
be  paid  to  any  man's  memory. 

Therefore,  I  said,  the  proclamation  comes  too  late. 
But  President  Johnson  is  aware  of  these  facts  as  well 
as  we  are ;  and  yet,  if  he  has  ordained  this  day  of 
prayer  and  commemoration,  he  has  done  it  with  the 
noble  and  ennobling  intent  that  the  calmed  and  re- 
possessed mind  of  the  nation  once  more  may  look 
back  on  the  life  of  the  departed  martyr;  that  once 
more  they  may  profit  by  his  illustrious  example ;  that 
once  more  they  may  swear  allegiance  to  the  sacred 
principle  he  has  sealed  with  his  blood ;  that  once 
more  they  may  resolve  upon  handing  them  down  to 
posterity  untarnished  and  unimpaired.  Viewed  in 
this  light,  the  proclamation  is  a  timely  and  proper  one. 
For  we  have  to  honor  Lincoln's  memory,  not  only 
today,  but  for  all  time  to  come,  verifying  the  words 
of  the  wise  king:  "The  memory  of  the  just  will 
prove  a  blessing  forevermore." 

"Republics  are  ungrateful,"  is  an  old  historical 
adage.  With  the  honor  of  the  office  they  bestow  on 
any  citizen,  they  are  wont  to  believe  they  have  can- 
celed any  debt  for  services,  past  and  future,  as  well 
as  for  eminence  of  character  and  talent.  And  if  any 
man  overcomes  this  proverbial  ingratitude ;  if  year 
after  year  he  becomes  more  endeared  to  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen ;  if  they  cherish  his  name  and 
revere  and  idolize  his  memory,  there  must  be  in  such 
a   man   some  peculiar    feature ;   in   his   public  career 

431 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

some  peculiar  characteristic  that  compels  the  nation 
to  make  an  exception  in  his  favor,  and  render  an 
unwonted  homage  to  his  name  and   fame. 

Lincoln  was  one  of  these  uncommon  men.  The 
longer  he  was  in  office  the  more  we  learned  to  re- 
spect him.  The  more  we  became  acquainted  with 
his  homespun  virtues  the  more  he  won  our  affections. 
We  do  not  weary  of  speaking  of  his  life  and  his 
calamitous  end.  As  sons  bereft  of  a  beloved  and 
revered  father  find  comfort  in  repeating  again  and 
again  his  words  and  his  parental  counsels,  so  the 
nation  never  wearies  of  dwelling  on  him  and  his 
life.  Lincoln's  name  has  become  a  household  word 
in  every  family;  it  has  become  a  domestic  altar 
around  which  the  nation  meets  with  filial  affection. 
No  president,  not  even  the  Father  of  our  Country, 
our  immortal  Washington,  has  taken  so  deep-rooted 
a  hold  of  the  nation's  sympathy  as  plain  and  unas- 
suming Lincoln  did. 

And  what  is  the  cause  of  this  unusual  gratitude 
and  love?  That  none  of  our  public  men  were  so 
thoroughly  identified  with  the  people  as  he  was.  He 
was  emphatically  one  of  the  people — feeling  as  they 
felt,  thinking  as  they  think,  speaking  as  they  speak, 
looking  upon  matters  from  their  point  of  view.  There 
was  a  homeliness  and  simplicity  about  him — a  quaint 
humor,  a  genial  nature,  a  sterling  rectitude  of  char- 
acter, peculiarly  adapted  to  win  for  him  the  sympa- 
ty  and  regard  of  the  great  masses  of  mankind. 

Yes,  he  was  emphatically  one  of  the  people.  Re- 
publics have  their  aristocracies  too.  There  is  the 
aristocracy  of  inherited  or  self-won  wealth ;  the  aris- 
tocracy of  privileged  education  and  special  training; 
the  social  aristocracy  of   fashionable  and  hightoned 

432 


ABRAHAM   UNCOIvN — AN  APPRECIATION. 

life.  The  masses  stand  aloof  and  separated  from 
the  company  of  those  elect  circles.  And  there  was 
nothing  in  Lincoln  to  associate  him  with  these  classes. 
He  earned  in  early  youth  his  living  by  dire  manual 
labor. 

He  had  to  struggle  for  the  scanty  knowledge  of 
mere  reading  and  writing.  He  had  to  rely  on  his 
own  untiring  exertions  for  the  acquisition  of  more 
profound  studies.  Living  out  in  the  far  West  he 
was  excluded  and  saved  from  the  hypocritical  polish 
of  fashionable  manners.  He  preserved  in  their  nat- 
ural purity  the  customs  and  simplicity  of  the  people. 
Thus  he  remained  one  of  them  during  the  whole  of 
his  public  career.  In  his  presence  they  did  not  feel 
themselves  humbled,  as  in  the  presence  of  stately 
Washington,  of  grand-minded  Webster,  of  eagle-eyed 
Clay — they  felt  at  home  with  him  like  in  the  house 
of  one  of  their  farming  neighbors,  and  his  loss  was 
felt  by  them  as  if  one  of  their  most  intimate  friends 
had  been  stricken  down. 

The  great  masses  of  mankind  are  kind  and  good- 
hearted.  Uncouth  as  their  manners  may  be,  rough 
as  the  outbursts  of  their  feelings  may  now  and  then 
appear,  there  is  at  the  bottom  of  their  nature  a 
fountain- well  of  kindness  that  on  every  occasion 
gushes  and  rushes  forth  with  blessing,  might  and 
power.  And  wherever  they  meet  with  the  same  gen- 
uine virtue  in  their  fellow  men,  their  lively  sympathy 
is  enlisted.  And  here  again  Lincoln  was  the  truest 
representative  of  the  great  masses.  His  heart  was 
his  title  to  nature's  nobility,  his  indisputable  right  to 
mankind's  love.  "Love  your  fellow  men  as  your- 
self" was  with  him  not  the  unreachable  ideal  of  re- 
ligion, but  the  North  star  principle  of  his  life.     To 

433 


MAX  LIUENTHAI,. 

forgive,  to  encourage,  to  make  happy,  was  the  steady, 
practical  impulse  of  his  heart.  He  did  not  temper 
justice  with  mercy;  no,  mercy  reigned  with  him  su- 
preme and  alone.  How  characteristic  of  his  temper 
are  his  words  when,  having  listened  to  the  entreaties 
of  a  soldier's  wife  whose  husband,  a  deserter,  sen- 
tenced to  be  shot,  and  having  granted  the  requested 
pardon,  he  turned  to  a  friend  and  said:  "I  may 
have  done  wrong,  but  I  have  made  that  poor  woman 
happy."  Such  deeds  found  their  echo  among  the 
masses ;  such  words  enshrined  him  as  one  of  them 
in  their  hearts.  Neither  the  power  of  his  office  nor 
the  loftiness  of  his  position  could  ice  or  chill  his 
heart.  It  beat  with  the  same  genuineness  in  the 
presidential  chair  as  in  the  log  cabin  of  Illinois. 

The  masses  dislike  haughtiness  and  are  won  and 
attracted  by  cordiality.  The  exclusiveness  of  official 
pomp,  the  display  of  extraordinary  eloquence,  though 
captivating  for  the  moment,  debars  them  from  equal 
participation  and  puts  them  in  a  quaint,  estranging 
position.  They  repay  such  leaders  and  chiefs  with 
reverence  and  admiration.  It  must  be  a  rare  combi- 
nation of  circumstances  if  they  are  permitted  to  com- 
bine love  with  regard,  heartfelt  devotion  with  rever- 
ence. And  this  again  was  the  case  with  Lincoln. 
Though  placed  in  the  highest  office  in  the  country, 
his  language  remained  the  plain,  unadorned  language 
of  the  people.  Though  wielding  a  power  second  to 
none  of  the  mightiest  sovereigns,  his  anecdotes,  his 
pointed  epigrams,  his  appropriate  sayings  were  those 
of  the  masses.  They  understood  him  better  than  any 
other  man ;  his  illustrations  came  home  to  their  simple 
unsophisticated  minds ;  his  arguments  were  not  be- 
yond their  reach ;  and  even  his  little  rusticities  only 

434 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN — AN    APPRECIATION. 

showed  more  brightly,  as  does  the  rough  matrix  the 
gold  ore,  the  deep  sense  of  his  assertions. 

The  masses  love  frankness,  good  faith  and  trust- 
worthiness. In  their  daily  intercourse,  absorbed  in 
the  hard  task  of  making  a  living,  they  have  neither 
the  time  nor  the  inclination  to  indulge  in  intrigue,  or 
to  use  diplomatic  craft  and  cunning.  In  their  plain, 
everyday  transactions  they  take  the  word  as  it  is 
given,  and  trust  that  the  given  word  will  be  kept 
without  reserve  or  deviation ;  for  truth  is  congenial 
to  human  nature.  And  whose  word  could  be  more 
trusted  than  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln?  There  was 
about  him  no  diplomatic  ambiguity,  no  stately  duplic- 
ity, no  dissembling  of  his  real  opinions.  In  his  frank 
and  honest  style  after  due  and  mature  consideration 
he  said  what  he  meant,  and  meant  what  he  said;  and 
his  word  was  as  good  as  the  man,  and  the  man  as 
good  as  his  word.  And  once  his  word  pledged  he 
stood  firm  as  a  rock — never  faltering,  never  retreat- 
ing; wiser  than  passion,  more  faithful  than  fury; 
never  swayed  by  fear  or  despair,  and  hopeful  in  the 
darkest  hour  of  unparalleled  trial.  Such  frankness 
and  such  good  faith  convinced  the  people  that  there 
was  none  among  them  who  could  be  trusted  more, 
and  all  looked  on  him  as  the  safest  man  and  safest 
arbiter  in  the  turning  point  of  the  history  of  our 
country. 

And  lastly,  people  honor  disinterestedness  and  un- 
selfish devotion  to  any  good  cause — how  much  more 
to  the  common  good  of  the  nation !  In  our  age  of 
money-worship  this  virtue  is  seldom  to  be  found.  On 
the  battleground  of  wild  competition  self-interest  and 
self-love  play  a  most  prominent  part.  But  so  much 
the  more  will  we  admire  and  cherish  the  man  who 

435 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

keeps  aloof  from  the  greed  of  the  time  and  repre- 
sents the  better  and  nobler  qualities  of  the  human 
heart.  Lincoln  was  such  a  man.  The  name — the 
only  recommendation  he  brought  from  his  home  in 
the  West — was  the  name  of  Honest  Old  Abe.  That 
was  his  escutcheon;  that  the  inscription  on  his  coat- 
of-arms,  and  even  his  bitterest  enemy  did  not  dare 
to  impeach  it.  His  purity  of  deed  was  never  chal- 
lenged; his  disinterestedness  never  suspected,  and  his 
honesty  of  purpose  never  impugned.  They  steadily 
became  more  apparent,  and  during  his  brief  term  of 
office  he  outlived  all  suspicions,  jealousies  and  mis- 
constructions. 

Such  a  combination  of  rare  qualities  made  him 
emphatically  not  only  the  country's,  but  the  people's 
president.  These  peculiar  traits  of  his  character  made 
his  loss  so  generally,  so  widely  and  so  deeply  felt. 
And  felicitously  said  Disraeli  in  the  English  House 
of  Commons :  "This  calamity  touches  the  heart  of 
nations,  and  appeals  to  the  domestic  sentiment  of 
mankind." 

This  and  thus  was  the  man.  But  we  would  not 
do  full  justice  to  his  memory  if  we  omitted  to  cast 
a  glance,  however  short,  on  him  as  the  president  and 
leader  in  the  last  four  eventful  years.  And  here 
again  he  stands  in  the  foremost  rank  of  our  history. 
Not  as  former  presidents,  since  and  after  the  days 
of  Washington,  who  had  only  to  look  after  the  proper 
and  fair  working  of  the  machinery  of  the  govern- 
ment. No,  he  had  to  inaugurate  a  new  era  of  our 
national  history;  he  had  to  introduce  us  into  new 
times,  pregnant  with  the  most  important  conse- 
quences. His  responsibilities  were  the  most  over- 
whelming; his  task  the  most  gigantic — the  issues  de- 

436 


ABRAHAM    UNCOIvN — AN   APPRECIATION. 

pending  on  success  or  failure,  decisive  for  the  future 
of  the  whole  human  race.  The  experience  of  our 
past  history  was  of  no  avail  to  him ;  everything  had 
to  be  created  anew,  had  to  tried  and  tested  anew. 
The  Revolutionary  War  of  1776  was  almost  forgot- 
ten; the  eventful  and  glorious  times  of  Washington 
were  pushed  far  away  into  the  background.  Wash- 
ington's matchless  farewell  address  had  become  worth- 
less, for  his  country  had  to  be  reorganized  on  other 
principles  than  those  laid  down  in  that  patriarchal 
document.  Webster's  conciliatory  master-speeches. 
Clay's  patriotic  compromise  measures  had  to  be 
shelved;  for  the  crisis  they  sought  to  prevent  had 
been  forced  upon  us  with  inevitable  reality.  It  re- 
quired a  firm  hand,  a  stout  heart,  a  calm  and  hope- 
ful mind  to  guide  the  ship  of  state  through  the  rag- 
ing and  ever-increasing  storm.  And  the  nation  and 
the  world  stood  asking  with  fearful  uneasiness :  "Is 
that  rail-splitter  the  man  fitted  for  such  a  tremendous 
crisis  ?" 

And  he  proved  himself  to  be  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place,  though  there  never  before  in  human  his- 
tory were  so  many  momentous  questions  to  the  fore 
at  once.  The  existence  of  our  nation  as  the  nation 
of  the  Union  had  to  be  asserted;  the  strength  of  the 
republican  form  of  government  had  to  be  tested;  the 
supreme  right  of  free  labor  had  to  be  vindicated,  and 
the  last  medieval  vestige  of  forced  labor  had  to  be 
wiped  out.  It  was  a  time  of  crushing  anxiety  for 
us — for  the  whole  world.  Our  and  their  all  was  at 
stake.  Abroad,  kings  and  nobles  were  in  their  glory ; 
their  false  prophecies  were  to  be  verified;  their  com- 
mon enemy  was  to  be  defeated ;  the  great  republic 
was   doomed  to  a  speedy  dissolution.     The  liberty- 

437 


MAX   UUENTHAL,. 

loving  nations  stood  stupefied,  hoping  and  praying  for 
our  success,  but  apprehensive  of  our  failure.  And 
at  home?  The  enemy  who  had  thrown  down  the 
gauntlet  stood  united  and  well  prepared;  we  in  the 
North  unarmed  and  fatally  divided.  We  had  neither 
confidence  in  our  strength  nor  faith  in  our  principle. 
We  thought  the  South  were  the  fighting  chivalry ; 
we  in  the  North  were  fitted  only  for  peaceable  pur- 
suits. We  thought  the  South  was  inspired  for  a 
principle;  we  in  the  North  only  for  the  worship  of 
the  almighty  dollar.  And  the  power  of  our  govern- 
ment? We  hardly  knew  that  we  had  a  government. 
We  were  accustomed  to  believe  that  it  was  fitted  for 
the  administration  of  peace,  but  not  for  the  terrible 
emergencies  of  war.  Whence,  then,  should  we  have 
taken  courage?  Whence  fortitude  and  resolution? 
All  therefore  became  confusion,  thoughtlessness,  help- 
lessness ;  and  the  stoutest  hearts  began  to  fail  and  to 
doubt. 

But  Lincoln  knew  us  better  than  we  did  ourselves. 
Himself  a  child  of  the  masses,  he  knew  the  patriotic 
and  uncorrupted  loyalty  of  the  masses.  He  took 
counsel  not  of  our  fears,  but  of  his  hope  and  the 
sanctity  of  our  cause.  He  inspired  us  with  confidence 
in  our  power  and  ability ;  he  called  on  us  to  rally 
round  our  flag  and  they  came — the  men  came,  the 
treasure  came,  and  the  right  men,  in  the  right  time, 
and  the  right  place  came ;  and  the  battle  was  fought 
and  gloriously  won.  Mistakes  were  made;  blunders 
were  committed.  Who  denies  them?  Who  disowns 
them?  Who  would  not  have  committed  them  in  a 
crisis  so  unprecedented  and  unexampled?  But  when 
failure  after  failure  tended  to  discourage  the  stoutest 
hearts,  Lincoln  never  failed  and  never  quailed.     He 

438 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN — AN    APPRECIATION. 

stood  firm,  immovable,  hopeful,  trying  and  trying 
again  till  his  firmness  and  his  hope  inspired  the  whole 
nation,  and  hecatombs  of  blood  and  treasure  were  of- 
fered willingly  and  unsparingly.  And  at  last  his  hope 
was  crowned  with  success  and  his  firmness  blessed 
with  final  victory;  secession  and  state  sovereignty 
were  crushed — were  annihilated ;  the  star-spangled 
banner  redeemed  and  restored  to  its  old  glory.  The 
strength  of  the  republican  form  of  government  has 
been  tested  and  triumphantly  asserted,  and  the  ex- 
istence of  our  nation  as  the  nation  of  our  Union 
supremely  and  incontestably  vindicated. 

Oh,  then  what  a  jubilee!  The  whole  country  was 
frantic  with  joy  and  triumph.  Such  tidings  the  wires 
had  never  before  carried  on  their  electric  wings ! 
Every  heart  felt  proud  to  be  an  American.  Every 
eye  looked  with  a  grateful  smile  up  to  the  victorious 
stars  and  stripes.  Every  countenance  gazed  with  rev- 
erence up  to  the  man  who  had  borne  the  nation's 
care,  and  should  now  reap  the  nation's  love.  We 
knew  now  what  we  had  in  him;  we  understood  now 
what  providential  gift  he  was  to  the  nation.  We 
asked  his  pardon  for  our  doubts,  and  offered  for  our 
shortcomings  not  the  nation's  official  honor,  but  the 
nation's  heart.  The  golden  rays  of  victory  won,  and 
peace  coming,  should  encircle  his  cherished  brow  as 
the  nation's  laurel,  the  nation's  gift. 

But  no,  no !  The  nation's  martyr,  already  when 
alive,  in  the  flush  of  victory,  he  was  to  fall  as  the 
nation's  sacrifice  and  freedom's  martyr.  Oh,  what 
a  change,  then !  The  mighty  eagle  stopped  his  soar- 
ing flight  and  drooped  with  bowed  head.  The  folds 
of  our  flag,  ashamed  of  their  short-timed  smile, 
wrapped  themselves  quickly  into  mourning.     One  cry 

439 


MAX  UUENTIIAL. 

of  agony  and  despair  ran  through  the  afiflicted  land, 
and  around  the  sacred  bier  stood  a  nation  in  tears, 
and  the  world  lamenting  the  loss  of  him  who  was 
so  great  and  so  good. 

But  let  us  turn  away  from  this  bloody  sight.  He, 
himself,  would  if  he  could,  command  us  to  forget  it; 
his  genuine  goodness  would  warn  us  against  punish- 
ment, against  vengeance.  Let  us  rather  now  apply 
our  thoughts  to  the  solemn  duty  now  imposed  upon 
us — how  shall,  how  can  we  honor  his  beloved  and 
cherished  memory?  And  here  again  he  himself  in 
sublime  and  inspired  words  has  taught  us  how  to 
perform  this  duty  of  sacred  and  national  gratitude. 

When  standing  in  the  cemetery  of  Gettysburg,  and 
consecrating  that  spot,  now  so  sacred  in  our  history, 
he  said :  "We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of 
this  field  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  the  nation  might  live.  It  is  al- 
together fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 
But  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can 
not  consecrate,  we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  It  is 
for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the 
unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here  have 
thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to 
be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before 
us ;  that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased 
devotion  to  that  cause  to  which  they  gave  the  last 
full  measure  of  devotion." 

Yes,  brethren,  if  we  wish  to  honor  his  memory  let 
us  dedicate  ourselves  to  the  great  work  he  left  to 
us.  Let  us  consecrate  ourselves  to  minister  well  the 
legacy  of  sacred  principles  he  has  bequeathed  to  us. 

And,  therefore,  do  you  love  and  honor  Lincoln's 
name  and  fame?     So  love  and  honor  above  all  lib- 

440 


ABRAHAM    UNCOIyN — AN   APPRECIATION. 

erty  and  Union.  The  whole  country's  motto  must 
henceforth  be,  "Liberty  and  Union,  one  and  insep- 
arable, now  and  forever."  He  has  left  us  one  coun- 
try and  not  sovereignties.  He  has  shown  us  we  have 
a  government  as  powerful  in  war  as  it  is  gentle  in 
peace.  He  has  given  us  an  army  and  navy  second 
to  none  on  this  globe,  able  to  maintain  the  honor  of 
the  flag  at  home,  and  strong  enough  to  command  the 
respect  of  the  nations  abroad.  And  over  this  im- 
perial Union  stands  supreme  the  spirit  of  Liberty, 
granting  equal  rights  to  all  races  and  all  denomina- 
tions, teaching  and  preaching  that  a  government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people,  is  the 
best,  the  wisest,  the  strongest,  and  the  most  moral 
of  all  governments.  It  has  been  tried  and  found  not 
wanting.  We  knew  all  these  truths,  theoretically, 
long  ago ;  but  now  they  are  proved  practically.  Let 
us  keep,  then,  this  precious  jewel,  bought  with  the 
lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our  best  citizens, 
and  set  and  encircled  by  the  costliest  blood  of  our 
martyr-president,  and  let  us  guard  it  as  the  dearest 
heirloom  we  can  bequeath  to  our — to  the  world's 
posterity. 

Do  you  wish  to  honor  his  memory?  Try  to  finish 
that  part  of  his  work  he  left  undone  and  do  it  in 
the  spirit  of  the  noble  words  last  addressed  to  the 
whole  nation :  "With  malice  towards  none,  with 
charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God 
gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish 
the  work  we  are  in."  "With  malice  towards  none !" 
the  South  lies  conquered  and  subjugated  at  our  feet. 
She  has  sown  the  wind  and  has  reaped  the  whirl- 
wind. But  now  she  is  no  longer  our  foe;  she  is  part 
and  parcel  of  our  family.     We  must  assist  her  in 

441 


MAX  LIUENTlIAIv. 

healing  her  deep  and  sore  wounds.  "With  charity 
for  all,"  we  must  help  her  to  recover  her  former 
flourishing  condition.  We  must  feed  and  clothe  her; 
we  must  take  care  of  her  widows  and  orphans ;  by 
the  hand  of  free  labor  we  must  redeem  her  devas- 
tated territory.  We  must  learn  not  only  to  forgive, 
but  also  to  forget,  so  that  the  South,  seeing  her  sin 
repaid  by  love  and  charity,  may  come  back  in  sincere 
repentance,  resolved  to  wipe  out,  by  future  deeds  of 
loyal  patriotism,  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  past  re- 
bellion. The  Union — then  a  Union  not  of  the  law 
and  the  sword,  but  of  sentiment  and  brotherly  feel- 
ing— will  inscribe  with  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude  on 
Lincoln's  monument  the  appropriate  words,  "The 
united  nation  to  the  savior  of  the  country." 

Do  you  wish  to  honor  his  memory?  Then  remem- 
ber, you  can  not  do  anything  for  him  himself ;  but 
as  he  said  in  his  last  inaugural  address,  "Care  for 
him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow 
and  his  orphans."  They  have  fought  our  and  his 
battles,  and  more  than  appropriate,  true  and  touch- 
ing was,  during  the  military  pageant  of  last  week,  the 
inscription  on  the  capitol,  "The  only  national  debt  we 
never  can  pay  is  the  debt  we  owe  to  the  victorious 
Union  soldiers."  The  nation,  the  states  and  the  in- 
dividual citizens  have  to  take  care  of  and  to  nurse 
the  invalid,  to  provide  for  the  disabled  and  to  assist 
the  returning  hero,  who  again  has  to  follow  the  bliss- 
ful pursuits  of  peace.  If  they  want  money  give  it, 
and  give  it  freely,  and  do  not  consider  it  a  mite  of 
charity.  If  they  want  work,  consider  it  your  duty  to 
procure  it,  and  let  them  have  the  preference.  If  they 
want  your  advice  and  assistance,  give  both  with  a 
good  will  and  grateful  heart.     They  were  our  liberal 

442 


ABRAHAM    UNCOLN — AN   APPRECIATION. 

creditors — let  us  pay  them  like  honest  debtors.  By 
such  acts  we  will  redeem  the  nation's  debt ;  by  such 
acts  we  will  show  ourselves  as  citizens  worthy  of 
our  republic.  By  such  deeds  we  will  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  Lincoln  and  carry  out  his  last  will  and  noble 
aspirations. 

And  we  shall  and  will  do  it,  illustrious  martyr! 
We  promise  it  to  thee  in  this  solemn  hour  of  mourn- 
ing! Sleep  thou  in  peace;  thy  work  shall  and  will 
be  finished !  Hand  in  hand  we  will  work  as  thou 
hast  said,  "To  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  and  do 
all  that  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  lasting  peace 
among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations."  Hand  in 
hand  we  will  strive  that  no  scar  be  left ;  that  the  na- 
tion, revived  through  all  her  members,  shall  begin  a 
new  era  of  unequaled  progress  and  prosperity;  and 
that  just  and  impartial  history  may  record  the  fact. 
This  new  era  dates  from  the  life  of  our  great  and 
good  Abraham  Lincoln. 


443 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 


MODERN  JUDAISM.^ 

The  sacred  and  solemn  ceremony  has  been  per- 
formed amidst  rejoicings  and  thanksgivings ;  the  cor- 
nerstone of  the  new  Hebrew  Temple  to  be  erected  in 
this  goodly  and  flourishing  city  has  been  laid.  And 
it  is  not  more  than  right  and  befitting  that  you  have 
selected  this  day  for  solemnizing  this  prosperous  fes- 
tival. On  the  day  on  which  the  whole  country  re- 
joices that  a  new  cornerstone  for  the  temple  of  its 
future  and  unrivaled  grandeur  has  been  laid;  on  the 
day  on  which  a  whole  nation  joins  in  prayer,  glad- 
ness and  thanksgiving  for  the  good  tidings  of  peace, 
victory  and  national  salvation — on  this  day  we  Israel- 
ites, too,  offer  our  devotion  to  the  Giver  of  all  good, 
and  endeavor  to  prove  by  our  deeds  and  actions  how 
much  we  are  willing  to  contribute  our  mite  to  the 
sacred  and  glorious  principles  which  are  celebrated 
today  from  Plymouth  Rock  to  the  gold-bearing  hills 
of  California. 

The  occasion  is  so  great,  the  causes  for  rejoicing 
so  many  today,  that  we  are  unable  to  do  justice  to 
them  in  half  an  hour's  oration.  I  must  be  brief,  and 
you  will  forbear  with  me  if  I  will  give  you  but  a 
sketch  of  the  glorious  reasons  which  inspire  us  today 
with  thanksgiving  and  rejoicing. 

So  let  me  then  dwell  first  on  the  national  feast,  for 

'Address  delivered  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1865,  on  the 
occasion  of  laying  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  temple  at 
Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

444 


MODERN   JUDAISM. 

according  to  the  saying  of  our  old  rabbis,  "The  law 
of  the  land  is  supreme,"  the  festival  of  the  land 
takes  precedence  over  our  sectarian  rejoicing,  and  be- 
fore we  give  expression  to  the  feelings  of  our  glad- 
ness as  Israelites,  let  us  do  homage  to  our  pride  and 
glory  as  Americans. 

It  is  a  prosperous  sign  that  most  of  the  states  have 
united  in  appointing  as  a  day  of  national  thanksgiv- 
ing that  day  which  had  been  appointed  by  our  match- 
less and  patriotic  president.  Governor  after  governor 
rescinded  their  former  state  proclamations  and  adopt- 
ed the  day  fixed  upon  by  the  president  of  the  United 
States — a  good  sign  that  the  sovereignty  of  the  states 
henceforth  will  yield  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  nation 
and  the  majesty  of  the  country  will  overshadow  the 
majesty  of  the  states. 

And  that  is  right — the  country  first ;  and  above  all, 
above  every  religious  or  political  institution.  Yes, 
our  country — for  now,  for  the  first  time  in  history 
we  have  a  country  one  and  indivisible.  The  old 
adage,  "United  we  stand ;  divided  we  fall,"  as  good 
as  it  may  be  in  some  senses,  has  not  attained  the 
glory  of  our  experience;  for  we  have  changed  it  into 
that  sublime  motto,  "United  we  stand,  and  divided 
we  will  and  must  stand  anyhow."  The  words  of 
Jackson,  "The  Union  must  and  shall  be  preserved," 
then  only  a  threat  and  a  prophecy,  is  now  a  truth, 
and  a  historical  stubborn  matter  of  fact  signed  by 
the  blood  and  sealed  by  the  victory  of  the  nation. 
Today  the  nation  rejoices  in  the  certainty  that  "we 
have  a  country,  and  such  a  free  country  as  there 
never  was  witnessed  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race !" 

For  heretofore  our  whole  national  existence  was 

445 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

considered  a  mere  trial,  a  political  experiment.  The 
wise  and  experienced  statesmen  of  Europe  had  no 
faith  in  it;  they  predicted,  at  the  first  crisis,  our 
speedy  downfall,  our  ignominious  dissolution ;  our 
patriotism  they  considered  vainglory,  the  love  for  our 
institutions  vain  boasting;  the  reliance  on  our  might 
and  resources  a  ridiculous  self-deception,  and  "Amer- 
ican Humbug"  was  the  epithet  given  to  our  national 
life.  But  on  this  day  the  tables  are  completely 
turned.  Humbug  is  the  proper  epithet  for  all  Euro- 
pean affairs,  while  with  us  there  is  stern,  hopeful 
reality.  Liberty  and  equality,  humanity  and  enlight- 
enment are  with  us  no  mere  sounds  and  empty 
words ;  no,  even  Lord  Russell,  the  representative  of 
doubtful  Albion,  calls  this,  our  country,  in  his  speech 
at  the  lord  mayor's  banquet,  "the  mighty  and  great 
republic !" 

And  our  people?  It  is  the  best  and  greatest  on 
God's  sunny  earth.  Look  on ;  Italy,  liberty-loving 
Italy,  needs  now  one  hundred  million  dollars  to  cover 
its  expenditures ;  France  needs  another  one  hundred 
million  dollars  to  meet  her  extra  liabilities;  Austria 
goes  begging  in  Europe  for  thirty  million  dollars  to 
run  the  government  machinery.  And  there  is  going 
on  all  over  Europe  a  financiering,  a  curtailing,  a 
debating,  as  if  the  specie  of  the  whole  globe  were 
required  to  meet  undelayable  demands.  And  in  our 
country  our  McCulloch  can  have  one  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars  before  breakfast ;  enormous  taxes  are 
paid  willingly,  without  a  word  of  complaint;  and 
even  the  London  Times,  our  inveterate  enemy,  ac- 
knowledges that  on  strict  principles  of  national  econ- 
omy national  bankruptcy  ought  to  have  happened 
long  ago.     But  this  country  seems  to  set  at  naught 

446 


MODERN    JUDAISM. 

all  rule  and  precedent ;  it  baffles  continually  expecta- 
tion, and  turns  prophecy  to  folly. 

And  again  the  charity,  the  "almighty  dollar"  patri- 
otism of  our  people?  In  Germany  the  spirit  for  the 
oppressed  Duchies  of  Schleswig-Holstein  was  aroused 
during  the  past  years.  Speeches  were  made,  songs 
were  composed,  committees  were  appointed,  a  national 
subscription  was  organized — and  the  sum  raised  after 
all  these  efforts  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  thousand  thalers.  And  in  our  country,  without 
extra  exertions,  without  any  boasting,  two  hundred 
and  fourteen  million  dollars  in  free  contributions  was 
laid  down  on  the  altar  of  the  country  for  sanitary 
commissions  and  for  the  support  of  soldiers'  fami- 
lies. A  nation's  gift,  a  nation's  charity  offered,  a 
nation's  debt  paid  in  the  midst  of  the  Civil  War — 
who  dares  merely  to  compare  the  figures  of  Ameri- 
can patriotism  with  the  snug  little  ciphers  of  "Euro- 
pean Humbug?" 

And  our  navy  and  our  army?  God  bless  them  and 
their  families  forevermore — where  are  they?  Eight 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  disbanded  and  dis- 
armed with  the  stroke  of  a  pen — and  back  they  are 
at  work  in  the  fields  and  in  the  shops.  The  general 
of  some  six  months  ago  is  now  a  lawyer  in  some 
country  town,  without  pension,  and  not  pretending 
to  have  any  claim  against  his  country.  What  shall 
we,  what  shall  the  world  admire  more,  the  heroic 
valor  of  the  soldier  in  the  field,  or  his  obedience  to 
the  law  as  citizen?  Oh,  they  feel  it  in  Europe  that 
here  on  our  soil  "right  is  might,  and  not  might 
right."  The  princes  know  that  our  country  is  the 
great  power  among  the  nations,  and  the  people  across 
the  ocean  looking  to  us  for  their  redemption,  shout 

447 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 


in  joy  and  reverence,  "Westward  moves  the  star  of 


empire 


And  our  treatment  of  the  rebels?  In  Europe  new 
dungeons  would  have  had  to  be  built  after  such  a 
catastrophe;  criminal  courts  like  in  the  time  of  the 
Tower  and  the  Bastille  would  have  sprung  up  like 
mushrooms,  and  numberless  scaffolds  would  have 
groaned  under  the  weight  of  numberless  victims.  But 
with  us?  A  few  assassins  and  human  monsters  only 
suffered  the  extreme  penalty ;  all  the  rest  are  pardoned. 
No  revenge!  No  bloodshed!  No  national  disgrace! 
All  humanity,  all  kindness  worthy  of  our  free  and 
grand  institutions !  Our  star-spangled  banner  shines 
forth,  emblazoned  not  only  with  glory  and  victory, 
but  with  every  emblem  of  human  and  moral  excel- 
lence; and  on  the  horizon  of  our  future  dawns  noth- 
ing but  peace,  union  and  common  liberty! 

Therefore  the  nation  is  rejoicing  today;  therefore 
it  is  offering  thanksgivings  before  the  altar  of  the 
Most  High;  therefore  its  jubilee  and  anthems  are 
ringing  in  the  welkin — for  from  whatever  point  of 
view  we  consider  our  country,  it  shines  forth  as  the 
beaconlight  of  all  nations.  What  heretofore  was 
mere  hope  is  now  glorious  reality;  what  was  only  ex- 
pectation is  now  matter  of  fact.  It  is  proved  and 
proved  for  all  generations  to  come  that  the  govern- 
ment "of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  peo- 
ple," as  our  immortal  Lincoln  said,  is  the  best  of  all 
governments ;  it  is  proved,  and  beyond  refutation,  that 
a  nation  defending  its  own  rights  and  privileges  is 
invincible  on  the  field  and  inexhaustible  in  its  means 
and  resources.  It  has  been  proved,  and  proved  for 
the  whole  human  race,  that  liberty,  religious  and  civil 
liberty,  unfettered  and  unlimited,  inspires  man  to  the 

448 


MODERN    JUDAISM. 

most  patriotic  deeds  and  incredible  self-denial ;  that 
liberty  ennobles  man  and  leads  nations  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  glory  and  prosperity.  Oh,  not  we  alone, 
but  the  whole  civilized  world,  should  join  with  us  in 
one  grand  hallelujah,  singing:  "This  day  the  Lord 
has  given  us ;  let  us  rejoice  and  be  glad  of  it." 

And  who  should  do  it  with  more  fervent  devotion 
than  we  Israelites?  Oh,  Americans,  you  can  not  ap- 
preciate the  grandeur  of  your  institutions,  the  nobility 
of  your  people !  Born  on  the  soil  of  a  free  country, 
raised  on  the  flag  of  free  institutions,  nursed  with 
the  idea  of  liberty,  you  think  it  must  be  so  and  can 
not  be  otherwise.  But  we  who  have  suffered  all  kind 
of  persecution,  suffered  for  eighteen  long  centuries, 
we  know  how  to  value  the  blessings  of  American  lib- 
erty. You  received  us  here,  not  asking:  "From  what 
country  art  thou  coming?  From  what  race  art  thou 
descending?  To  what  creed  and  denomination  art 
thou  belonging  ?"  No ;  the  only  question  was  and  is : 
"Art  thou  a  man?  Well,  then,  go  forth  and  enjoy 
the  innate  rights  of  a  man !"  Here,  on  this  sacred 
soil  of  virgin  liberty,  there  was  no  discussion  about 
religious  toleration  or  political  emancipation;  there 
was  no  bargaining  about  the  self-evident  truth  and 
right  of  man — no,  the  immortal  signers  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  knew  of  no  bigotry  and  no 
political  prejudices;  they  knew  man  merely  as  man, 
and  as  such  adjusted  to  everyone  equal  rights  and 
enjoyments ;  and  what  they  had  so  gloriously  begun, 
our  generation,  not  less  glorious  and  not  less  im- 
mortal, has  vindicated  valiantly ;  and  there  floats  our 
banner,  welcoming  Gentile  or  Jew  under  its  heavenly 
folds  and  securing  to  one  and  to  all  the  same  right, 
the  same  protection. 

449 


MAX  ULIKNTHAI,. 

Therefore,  it  is  so  very  becoming  that  you,  my  dear 
coreHgionists,  have  selected  this  day  of  national 
thanksgiving  for  laying  the  cornerstone  of  your  new 
temple.  You,  too,  wish  to  erect  a  house  of  God  in 
which  you  will  offer  your  gratitude  after  the  creed 
and  dogmas  of  your  fathers  and  its  foundation  shall 
date  from  that  day  on  which  the  nation  once  more 
asserted :  "Religious  liberty  shall  be  the  common 
boon  of  all  citizens."  Henceforth  the  synagogue  has 
no  more  to  hide  itself  in  a  secluded  ghetto;  the  syn- 
agogue shall  no  longer  be  forbidden  to  promulgate  its 
doctrines  and  teachings — no,  the  synagogue  shall  take 
its  proper  place  and  proper  rank  among  the  syna- 
gogues and  churches,  and  in  this  age  of  free  inquiry 
bring  its  tenets,  too,  before  the  tribunal  of  reason,  to 
prove  that  they  are  compatible  with  the  progress  of 
our  age  and  the  advancing  ideas  of  American  liberty. 

And  thus,  when  asked,  "What  are  the  doctrines, 
what  are  the  ideas  to  the  worship  of  which  you  are 
going  to  erect  this  temple?"  we  will  answer:  "Here 
are  the  three  doctrines  which  shall  be  taught  here  as 
the  essence  of  Judaism  and  the  Mosaic  religion — 
First,  there  is  a  God,  one,  indivisible,  eternal,  spirit- 
ual, most  holy  and  most  perfect.  Second,  there  is  an 
immortal  life,  and  man  is  a  son  of  eternity.  Thirdly, 
love  thy  fellow  men  without  distinction  of  creed  or 
race  as  thyself,  and  man's  duties  are  virtue  and  jus- 
tice, love  and  benevolence."  This  creed  is  compati- 
ble with  our  American  constitution ;  these  doctrines 
answer  the  purpose  of  all  ages  to  come;  these  tenets 
enable  us  to  be  as  good  sons  of  our  sacred  covenant 
as  we  are  faithful  and  loyal  citizens  of  our  country. 

These  words  inscribe  on  your  cornerstone,  as  the 
leading  motto  of  American   Israelites,  and  then  add 

450 


MODERN    JUDAISM. 

to  it,  "No  religious  intolerance."  Thank  God,  our  old 
rabbis  have  already  laid  down  for  us  the  glorious 
principle,  "The  good  and  moral  men  of  all  denomina- 
tions shall  participate  in  the  future  bliss  of  Heaven." 
What  they  asserted  in  the  dark  ages  of  medieval 
bigotry,  what  other  creeds  have  heretofore  not  as  yet 
adopted,  let  remain  our  guide  and  our  motto ;  and  let 
the  temple  to  be  erected  on  this  spot  be  a  witness  to 
this  solemn  and  important  truth.  Oh,  I  can  not  let 
these  remarks  pass  without  offering  on  this  occasion 
our  sincere  thanks  to  the  enlightened  legislature  of 
Indiana,  who  last  year  so  gloriously  maintained  the 
principle,  "Religious  intolerance  shall  not  defile  the 
sacred  and  free  soil  of  America."  When  some  men 
intended  to  give  this  nation  a  sectarian  name,  they 
nobly  resisted  the  attempt,  and  proclaimed  once  more, 
"State  and  church  remain  forever  separated  in  Amer- 
ica." Thank  them  for  their  wisdom ;  thank  them  for 
their  justice.  And  we,  we  can  not  celebrate  this  day 
in  a  more  becoming  and  truly  American  style  than  by 
declaring:  "This  house  of  God  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  principle,  'No  religious  fanaticism.'  "  For  we  will 
adhere  to  the  words  of  the  prophets,  "Every  nation 
may  walk  in  the  way  of  its  religion,  and  we  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  our  God."  For  has  not  one  God 
created  us  all?  Have  we  not  all  but  one  Father? 
Why  should  we  become  faithless  one  to  another,  to 
defile  the  covenant  of  our  fathers? 

And  finally,  as  our  age  is  progressive  and  this  fes- 
tive day  is  testifying  to  the  common  progress  of  our 
race,  so  let  then  the  temple  to  be  erected  here,  be 
devoted  to  progress  and  general  enlightenment.  Re- 
ligion can  not  remain  stationary  while  every  depart- 
ment of   human   life  is  undergoing  mighty   changes. 

451 


MAX  UUENTHAL. 

Religion  can  not  adhere  autocratically  to  medieval 
tenets,  when  the  whole  tendency  of  our  modern  age 
is  pointing  to  new  developments.  Religion,  too,  has 
to  adapt  itself  to  modern  changes  and  to  modern 
ideas — if  hypocrisy  shall  not  rule  supreme  or  doubt 
and  skepticism  shall  not  undermine  its  whole  fabric. 
No,  life  and  religion  must  be  one  and  the  same;  life 
and  religion  must  be  reconciled,  and  then  can  we 
hope  for  the  truth  in  the  state  and  truth  in  the 
church  and  for  a  moral  general  elevation,  worthy  of 
the  man  and  the  citizen.  Thank  God,  our  creed 
grants  us  the  right  of  reform.  Let  the  new  temple 
be  devoted  to  this  sacred  cause;  let  us  strive  and  en- 
deavor that  our  services  may  reflect  the  constitution 
of  our  country  and  the  constitution  of  our  religion; 
let  a  mode  of  worship  be  established  here  answering 
the  free  spirit  of  Judaism  and  the  free  spirit  of  our 
blessed  land;  let  us  reconcile  our  religion  with  the 
demands  of  our  age,  that  all  nations  may  say  with 
Moses,  "This  is  your  wisdom  and  your  understand- 
ing in  the  eyes  of  all  nations  1" 

So  may  then  this  temple  rise  to  its  future  glory,  a 
powerful  witness  to  truth  and  liberty,  to  progress  and 
reform!  May  its  cornerstone  testify  to  our  faith  in 
our  covenant  and  to  our  loyalty  as  citizens  !  May  the 
remembrance  of  this  double  festival  remind  us  of  our 
gratitude  to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  our  indebtedness 
to  our  blessed  country !  May  it  verify,  when  finished, 
the  words  of  the  prophet:  "And  the  glory  of  the 
second  temple  shall  be  greater  than  that  of  the  first 
one."     Hallelujah,  Amen ! 


452 


THE    PLATFORM    OF   JUDAISM. 


THE  PLATFORM   OF  JUDAISM.^ 

Whenever  the  cornerstone  of  a  divine  temple  or 
any  other  pubHc  building  is  laid,  it  is  customary  to 
deposit  in  a  box  prepared  for  the  special  purpose 
certain  documents  referring  to  the  history  connected 
therewith,  and  pointing  out  the  aim  to  which  that 
building  in  progress  of  erection  is  going  to  be  de- 
voted. 

On  this  day,  so  solemn  and  important  to  our  con- 
gregation— the  eldest  Hebrew  one  in  this  western 
city — we  have  prepared  similar  documents.  We  are 
going  to  deposit  in  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  temple 
the  first  sermon  delivered  by  Mr.  Jonas,  the  first 
Israelite  who  arrived  in  this  city;  a  short  sketch  of 
the  history  of  this  congregation,  written  by  Phineas 
Moses,  Esq.,  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  this,  the 
first  synagogue  in  Cincinnati ;  a  list  of  the  members 
of  the  congregation ;  the  names  of  all  the  gentlemen 
who  so  liberally  donated  forty  thousand  dollars  for 
the  purchase  of  the  lot  situated  at  Mound  and  Eighth 
Streets;  the  names  of  the  officers  and  the  building 
committees  of  the  congregation ;  the  names  of  our 
sister  congregations  and  the  numerous  Hebrew  benev- 
olent institutions  of  this  city ;  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  and,  with  other  interesting  papers,  the  docu- 
ment containing  the  details  of  the  impressive  cere- 
mony we  are  going  to  perform  this  afternoon. 

*  Address  delivered  at  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the 
Mound   Street  Temple,   Cincinnati,  June  5,   1868. 

453 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

But,  brethren,  as  proper  and  befitting  as  this  old 
custom  may  be,  it  is  only  the  outward  form  of  the 
ceremony.  It  is  not  its  essence,  its  enlivening  spirit. 
This  spirit  consists  in  declaring  the  principles  which 
will  govern  the  divine  worship  in  our  new  temples; 
the  ideas  which  must  rule  their  votaries.  This  spirit 
consists  in  proclaiming  the  doctrines  of  Judaism  as  it 
is  understood  by  the  living  generation  of  our  race 
and  people. 

This  duty  has  become  imperative,  partly  because 
Judaism  is  badly  misunderstood  and  misrepresented, 
and  partly  in  order  to  define  the  platform  which  we 
Israelites  intend  to  occupy  during  the  religious  crisis 
which  is  threatening  our  beloved  country. 

It  can  not  and  will  not  be  denied  that  in  several 
quarters  strenuous  efforts  are  made  to  gain,  first  a 
sectarian  supremacy,  and  then  and  thereby  a  political 
ascendency.  These  efforts  are  neither  concealed  nor 
disguised.  And  all  patriots  having  the  liberty  and 
welfare  of  their  country  at  heart  are  looking  with 
uneasiness  towards  the  darkening  future.  Twenty- 
three  years  ago  when  I  arrived  on  the  blessed  shores 
of  this  country,  no  apprehensions  of  this  kind  were 
prevailing.  Then  the  sky,  the  air,  life  in  all  its  ele- 
ments were  American  throughout,  and  nothing  but 
American.  There  was  less  theology,  but  more  true 
religion. 

There  was  less  religious  controversy,  but  more 
true  religious  brotherly  love  and  fellowship.  There 
was  no  religious  prejudice,  no  sectarian  animosity, 
but  all  parts  of  the  country  were  inspired  by  the 
noble  sentiments  of  American  liberty.  Times  and 
things  have  greatly  changed  for  the  worse;  and  it  is 
but  a  few  weeks  ago  that  I  was  accosted  by  some 

454 


THE    PLATFORM    OF    JUDAISM. 

true  and  sincere-hearted  Americans  with  these  ques- 
tions : 

"Which  side  will  you  Israelites  take?  What  is  the 
platform  you  are  occupying?  Let  us  know  what 
Judaism  is  in  order  that  we  may  ascertain  the  value 
and  worth  of  your  doctrines  and  votaries." 

Well,  brethren,  this  is  a  befitting  occasion  for  an- 
swering these  important  questions,  to  display  the 
spiritual  cornerstone  on  which  our  new  temple  shall 
rest. 

The  first  principle  that  shall  lead  and  guide  us  is 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  American  Constitution ; 
not  only  according  to  its  letter,  but  to  its  divine  and 
ennobling  spirit.  I  was  lately  visiting  in  New  York. 
On  a  car  two  gentlemen  engaged  in  a  lively  debate 
on  the  question,  "Which  comes  first,  the  government 
or  the  church?"  I  joined  the  debate,  and  as  a  Jew 
unhesitatingly  took  the  part  of  him  who  advocated, 
"First  the  constitution  and  then  the  church."  The 
Jews  consider  and  revere  this  sublime  document  al- 
most like  a  new  revelation.  By  its  decree  the  relig- 
ious animosities,  dating  from  bygone  ages,  are  intend- 
ed to  be  erased  from  the  records  of  future  human 
history;  by  its  spirit  every  man  shall  and  may  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience, 
but  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  church  we  shall  be  but 
citizens  and  brethren.  We  Jews  owe  our  first  alle- 
giance to  this  constitution.  As  American  citizens, 
without  any  subterfuge,  we  consider  it  our  supreme 
law.  We  do  not  wish  to  abuse  the  liberties  it  is 
granting  for  the  glorification  of  our  church.  No,  we 
shall  abide  by  its  truly  religious  spirit,  which  fosters 
general  good  will  and  toleration.  Reasserting  as  it 
does  the  glorious  words  of  the  old  prophet:     "Every 

455 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 

nation  may  walk  in  the  ways  of  their  gods,  but  we 
will  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,"  this 
word  of  toleration  must  be  our  unswerving  North 
Star,  pointing  to  the  constitution  as  the  supreme  and 
and  most  blissful  law  of  the  country. 

Hence,  secondly,  we  shall  always  join  the  ranks  of 
those  who  advocate  the  separation  of  state  and 
church.  This  is  the  leading  principle  of  the  political 
reform  now  at  work  all  over  Europe.  We  perceive, 
in  spite  of  all  opposition,  its  astonishing  results  both 
in  England  and  in  Austria.  Let  us  hope,  let  us  pray 
and  work  that,  banished  from  the  old  continent,  it 
will  not  emigrate  to  our  country.  As  soon  as  it 
would  set  foot  on  these  shores,  as  soon  as  it  would 
be  allowed  to  take  root  in  this  virgin  soil  of  liberty, 
the  doom  of  our  country  and  its  glorious  institutions 
would  be  sealed.  We  should  have  here  a  second  edi- 
tion of  the  gloomy  fate  of  the  South  American  re- 
publics. A  state  religion  would  be  inaugurated,  with 
all  its  accoutrements  of  bigotry,  fanaticism,  and  re- 
ligious persecution.  We  should  have  here  a  second 
Spain  with  her  intolerance  and  religious  oppressions. 
The  sun  of  American  liberty  would  set  forever,  and 
an  Egyptian  darkness  of  priestcraft  would  dim  and 
blind  the  piercing  eye  of  the  American  eagle.  No, 
we  are  going  to  lay  our  cornerstone  with  the  sub- 
lime motto,  "Eternal  separation  of  state  and  church !" 

For  this  reason  we  shall  never  favor  or  ask  any 
support  for  our  various  benevolent  institutions  by  the 
state;  and  if  offered,  we  should  not  only  refuse,  but 
reject  it  with  scorn  and  indignation,  for  those  meas- 
ures are  the  first  sophistical,  well-premeditated  steps 
for  a  future  union  of  church  and  state.  Sectarian 
institutions  must  be  supported  by  their  sectarian  fol- 

456 


THE   PLATFORM    OF   JUDAISM. 

lowers ;  the  public  purse  and  treasury  dares  not  be 
filled,  taxed  and  emptied  for  sectarian  purposes.  For 
this  very  same  reason  we  Israelites  are  the  very  sin- 
cere friends  and  strenuous  advocates  of  our  free  pub- 
lic schools.  Of  course  we  are  going  to  build  school- 
rooms below  our  new  temple ;  but  they  will  only  be 
used  for  our  Sabbath  school.  The  Sabbath  school, 
conducted  on  Sabbath  and  Sunday,  affords  us  ample 
time  and  opportunity  for  imparting  to  our  children 
the  doctrines  of  our  religion.  This  aim  once  accom- 
plished, we  wish  them,  from  their  earliest  boyhood, 
to  associate  with  their  American  playmates,  in  order 
to  become  "Americanized"  in  every  way  and  respect. 
They  shall  learn  to  love  their  country  above  all,  to 
respect  and  foster  its  glorious  and  free  institutions. 

For  we  Israelites  of  the  present  age  do  not  dream 
any  longer  about  the  restoration  of  Palestine  and  the 
Messiah  crowned  with  a  diadem  of  earthly  power 
and  glory.  America  is  our  Palestine ;  here  is  our 
Zion  and  Jerusalem;  Washington  and  the  signers  of 
the  glorious  Declaration  of  Independence — of  uni- 
versal human  right,  liberty  and  happiness — are  our 
deliverers,  and  the  time  when  their  doctrines  will  be 
recognized  and  carried  into  effect  is  the  time  so  hope- 
fully forestalled  by  our  great  prophets.  When  men 
will  live  together  united  in  brotherly  love,  peace,  jus- 
tice and  mutual  benevolence,  then  the  Messiah  has 
come  indeed,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  will  have 
been  revealed  to  all  his  creatures. 

For  this  reason  we  hail  with  joy  and  satisfaction 
the  organizations  of  the  so-called  secret  orders,  be 
their  names  Free  Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  or  any  kin- 
dred institutions.  Wherever  the  existence  of  a  God 
is  taught ;  wherever  men,  breaking  down  all  barriers 

457 


MAX  IvIIvlENTHAL. 

of  separation,  meet  on  the  platform  of  common  love, 
charity  and  fraternity,  there  we  find  the  signs  of  the 
real  Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  there  we  greet  the  dawn- 
ing of  that  morning  which  will  bring  unto  us  better 
tidings !  We  expect  from  such  organizations  only 
the  best  results  for  mutual  reconciliation,  and  appre- 
hend from  them  dangers  neither  for  religion  or  hu- 
man society. 

This  is  the  spiritual  cornerstone  on  which  we  are 
going  to  rear  our  new  temple;  these  are  the  ideas 
which  lead  and  guide  Judaism  in  its  relation  to  our 
country  and  fellow  citizens ;  and  in  conformity  with 
these  ideas  we  are  reorganizing  our  mode  of  worship 
and  progress,  and  have  initiated  the  era  of  modern 
reform. 

Yes,  "Reform"  has  become  the  watchword,  the  cor- 
nerstone of  modern  Judaism.  All  old  prayers  refer- 
ring to  a  return  to  Palestine,  to  a  rehabilitation  of 
sacrifices  and  all  such  obsolete  ideas  and  ceremonies 
have  to  be  and  will  be  abolished.  Religion  has  to 
adapt  itself  to  the  altered  political  situation  and  to  the 
changes  wrought  by  the  reconciling  spirit  of  the  age. 
Religion  has  to  adapt  itself  to  the  progress  made  in 
all  the  departments  of  human  science  and  knowledge 
and  take  the  incontestable  results  accruing  therefrom. 
Any  religion  disregarding  these  manifest  changes 
must  either  rely  upon  the  ignorance  or  superstition 
of  the  masses  or  come  into  flagrant  opposition  with 
the  human  race.  The  result  of  such  a  stubborn  op- 
position will  be  either  a  most  lamentable  state  of 
hypocrisy  or  the  future  ruin  of  religion  or  the  state. 
We  intend  and  endeavor  to  assist  in  this  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  highest  interests  of  humanity.  We  ap- 
prehend   from    these    endeavors    no    danger    to   our 

458 


THE    PLATFORM    OF    JUDAISM. 

creed,  for  truth  will  conquer  anyhow,  and  truth,  like 
God  himself,  can  never  be  in  contradiction  with  itself. 
And  if  to  this  general  reform  we  will  ever  continue 
to  add  the  reform  of  ourselves,  what  a  glorious 
house  of  God  will  the  new  temple  be!  I  do  not 
wish  to  mar  the  sentiments  of  this  joyful  and  solemn 
occasion  by  thoughts  of  reproach  and  admonition. 

I  delight  in  your  enthusiasm  of  today,  but  I  have 
no  faith  in  fireworks  enthusiasm.  I  do  not  believe 
in  those  holy  rockets  which  so  brilliantly  soar  up  to 
heaven,  but  get  extinguished  before  they  reach  it. 
No,  "An  eternal  fire  shall  burn  upon  the  holy  altar; 
it  shall  never  be  extinguished."  What  a  shame  it 
would  be  to  build  a  gorgeous  temple  and  then,  when 
finished,  to  leave  it  empty  and  desolate.  What  a 
folly  would  it  be  to  spend  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  to  no  purpose  whatsoever! 

No,  brethren,  let  the  enthusiasm  of  today  be  the 
harbinger  for  a  lasting,  ever-growing  love  for  the 
house  we  are  going  to  erect.  Then  this  temple  will 
be  an  honor  to  the  congregation  and  to  each  of  its 
members;  it  will  be  a  monument  of  glory  to  Israel, 
a  blessing  to  humanity,  an  ornament  to  the  city,  re- 
dounding to  the  glory  of  God,  and  preaching  and 
teaching  good  will  to  all  men. 

With  these  sentiments  let  us  now  form  our  line 
of  procession.  May  the  great  principles  we  have  laid 
down  inspire  us  when  laying  the  cornerstone;  and 
when  we  shall  dedicate  this  temple  to  the  worship 
of  the  one,  indivisible,  spiritual  and  eternal  God  of 
Israel,  the  Father  of  the  whole  human  race,  may  He, 
the  great  Architect  of  the  Universe,  be  with  us  and 
assist  us  in  His  divine  grace  and  mercy,  forever  and 
ever.     Amen. 

459 


MAX  WUENTHAL. 


CAN  A  JEW  GO  TO  HEAVEN? 
(1868) 

On  last  Saturday  evening,  while  going  up  Vine 
Street,  I  passed  two  young  ladies  engaged  in  a  very 
lively  discussion.  "I  do  not  think  that  any  Jew  will 
go  to  Heaven,"  remarked  the  one.  "Of  course  not," 
replied  the  other;  and  with  these  words  they  were 
out  of  my  hearing. 

I  was  stunned.  For  some  time  I  was  absorbed  in 
thought  on  this  wholesale  sweeping  condemnation. 
"This  crushing  sentence,"  I  said  to  myself,  "is  the 
echo  of  the  theology  of  the  religion  of  the  majority. 
This  sentence  is  the  final  verdict  of  a  theology  which 
claims  to  preach  the  doctrines  of  supreme  love  and 
divine  mercy.  These  words  are  the  result  of  the 
instruction  which  claims  to  impart  the  sublime  les- 
son that  God  is  our  Father  and  we  all  His  beloved 
children.  "No,  no,"  I  cried  to  Heaven,  lit  up  by  the 
altar-lamps  of  the  stars,  "these  words  can  not  be 
true.  Forgive  them,  Almighty  Father,  they  do  not 
know  what  they  are  saying." 

Indeed,  it  matters  very  little  to  what  Christian  de- 
nomination we  may  turn — everywhere  we  hear  the 
same  distressing  verdict.  The  Catholic  religion  claims 
to  be  alone  the  only  saving  church;  everyone  and 
everybody  outside  of  its  precincts  is  lost  and  doomed 
to  eternal  perdition.  The  Protestant  religion  points 
to   faith   in   a  miraculous   redemption ;   without  that 

460 


CAN    A    JEW    GO   TO    HEAVEN? 

special  faith  the  purest  and  most  virtuous  life  is  as- 
serted to  be  without  either  merit  or  value.  Calvin- 
ism is  still  more  rigorous  and  austere.  By  its  theory 
of  preordination  it  maintains  that  God  elects  some 
men  for  everlasting  happiness,  and  others  for  ever- 
lasting misery — a  divine  decree  from  which  there  is 
no  escape  either  by  leading  the  most  virtuous  or  the 
most  vicious  and  most  sinful  life. 

I  do  not  wish  to  engage  in  religious  controversies. 
I  am  a  man  doing  homage  to  the  broadest  platform 
of  religious  liberty  and  toleration.  I  believe  in  the 
great  modern  principle  of  Frederick  the  Great:  "Let 
everyone  be  saved  according  to  his  own  fashion." 
But  when  a  doctrine  is  uttered,  coming  home  with 
such  crushing,  universal  condemnation,  then  I  deem 
it  my  duty  to  examine  it,  both  for  the  sake  of  my 
own  peace  and  spiritual  comfort  and  for  the  interest 
of  the  human  race  in  general. 

And,  indeed,  I  do  not  know  what  in  the  miracu- 
lous doctrine  of  salvation  I  shall  condemn — no,  no, 
we  never  condemn — I  meant  only  to  say,  I  know  not 
what  I  shall  more  pity,  the  heartlessness  of  this  doc- 
trine, or  its  thoughtlessness  and  shocking  blasphemy 
against  God's  eternal  justice,  love  and  mercy. 

Now  there  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
innocent  children  torn  away  from  the  mother's  bosom, 
from  the  father's  heart,  before  they  know  how  to 
distinguish  between  good  and  evil ;  sweet,  innocent, 
little  creatures  who  are  carried  away  to  the  grave 
before  the  sun  of  life  has  opened  their  young  buds; 
angels  on  earth,  who  have  never  been  contaminated 
even  by  the  atmosphere  of  sin  and  wrong.  And  they 
shall  be  doomed  to  lasting  perdition  because  they  are 
born  in  another  denomination,  because  the  rites  of  a 

461 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

certain  church  have  not  been  administered  to  them? 
"Be  it  far  from  Thee,  Judge  of  the  whole  earth, 
that  Thou  shouldst  not  do  justice." 

There  are  hundreds  of  niilHons  of  men  whom  the 
words  of  the  New  Testament  have  never  reached, 
who  hve  happy  and  contented  in  the  rehgion  of  their 
ancestors;  there  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
among  them,  as  good,  as  honest,  as  moral  and  as 
charitable  as  the  best  ones  of  the  modern  denomina- 
tions, and  all  these  people  shall  indiscriminately  be 
doomed  to  perdition  and  torture  in  hell,  because  they 
were  born  in  another  faith,  and  do  or  could  not  sub- 
scribe to  certain  dogmas  of  the  domineering  theology? 
"Be  it  far  from  Thee,  Judge  of  the  whole  earth,  that 
Thou  shouldst  not  do  justice." 

There  are  men  in  our  midst  with  whom  we  are 
daily  associating,  whom  we  delight  to  receive  in  our 
homes ;  whose  honesty  is  undoubted,  whose  integrity 
is  widely  recognized ;  whose  moral  worth  entitles  them 
to  our  unbiased  regard,  whose  charity  is  unlimited, 
and  free  from  every  sectarian  prejudice;  but  they  are 
Jews,  and  in  spite  of  all  their  sterling  virtues  they 
are  said  to  be  excluded  from  salvation  and  doomed 
to  everlasting  perdition.  But  that  adulterer,  who  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  a  happy  family  and  led  a  life  of 
lewdness  and  debauchery;  that  felon  and  highway- 
man, who  wantonly  outraged  man's  life  and  property; 
that  murderer,  who  by  order  of  human  justice  ex- 
piates his  crime  on  the  gallows — they,  all  of  them, 
if  in  the  last  moments  of  their  vicious  life  they  com- 
ply with  certain  ordinances  of  sectarian  theology,  shall 
be  better,  worthier  in  the  eyes  of  Eternal  Justice 
and  Wisdom  than  the  really  good  and  moral  man! 


462 


CAN    A    JEW    GO    TO    HEAVEN? 

Never,  never!  "Be  it  far  from  Thee,  Judge  of  all 
the  earth,  that  Thou  shouldst  not  do  justice!" 

There  is  a  general  outcry  heard  nowadays  that 
our  age  makes  a  religion  of  irreligion;  that  this  sen- 
timent leads  toward  indifferentism,  or  rather  to  a 
tone  of  mind  lower  even  than  that.  Is  it  to  be  won- 
dered at?  Can  the  human  mind,  in  its  advanced  state 
and  condition,  subscribe  to  these  perverted  and  dis- 
torted ideas  of  God's  justice  and  government?  Never! 
The  thinker,  the  investigator,  the  man  who  does  not 
swear  by  the  teachings  of  his  sectarian  clergyman, 
but  ventures  to  think  for  himself,  must  needs  be- 
come an  infidel — not  to  religion — but  to  the  doctrine 
of  theology.  The  thoughtless  masses,  who  never 
think  for  themselves,  and  are  contented  with  listen- 
ing to  a  leader  who  takes  the  trouble  of  thinking  for 
them,  may  still  be  counted  among  the  staunch  follow- 
ers and  supporters  of  theological  dogmas.  The  en- 
lightened classes  will  no  longer  stand  the  contradic- 
tion between  their  better  knowing  and  the  church 
doctrine. 

While  in  the  scientific  department  of  life  every  new 
discovery  adduces  a  new  argument  for  the  wisdom 
and  harmony  of  the  one  plan  and  scheme  that  per- 
vades in  eternal  order  the  great  universe;  while  in 
the  political  arena  the  great  spirit  of  the  age  is  striv- 
ing to  remove  all  anomalies  and  exceptions,  and  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  a  future  kingdom  of  universal 
equality  and  justice;  while  the  sentiments  of  men,  so 
long  estranged  from  one  another  by  church  and 
state,  try  to  establish  an  empire  of  common  love  and 
brotherhood ;  shall  those  who  are  in  the  van  of  civil- 
ization recognize  in  the  heavenly  government  another 
code  of  justice  and  righteousness  than  the  one  which 

463 


MAX  LILIENTHAL,, 

the  voice  of  conscience  implanted  by  God  in  man  de- 
mands and  requires  for  the  management  of  our 
earthly  affairs? 

Shall  we  be  bound  to  admit  that  on  earth  man  is 
treated  and  judged  according  to  his  moral  worth  and 
in  Heaven  merely  according  to  his  faith?  Shall  we 
assent  that  on  earth  the  good  man,  for  his  good 
deeds  and  actions,  is  rewarded  with  the  general  re- 
gard and  esteem,  but  that  in  Heaven  the  criminal,  by 
complying  with  certain  church  rites,  stands  higher 
than  the  man  of  moral  virtue  and  excellence  if  born 
in  another  faith?  that  the  latter  is  doomed  to  the 
tortures  and  pangs  of  hell,  while  the  criminal  enjoys 
the  undeserved  privilege  of  eternal  bliss  and  happi- 
ness? 

Oh,  if  divine  justice  is  so  totally  different  from 
human  justice,  if  the  heavenly  government  is  so 
widely  variant  with  all  that  our  conscience  and  ex- 
perience teach  us  to  be  good,  true  and  holy,  then  let 
us  at  once  sever  all  connections  that  tie  us  to  our 
heavenly  relations ;  then  let  us  discard  all  ideas  which 
foster  the  widest  contradictions  in  the  guidance  of 
our  life,  and  let  us  without  an  idea  of  God,  or  a 
faith  in  immortality,  plunge  into  materialism  or  athe- 
ism, which  at  least  will  grant  us  peace  within  our- 
selves and  harmony  in  our  consciences. 

But,  thank  Heaven,  there  is  no  cause  for  such  an 
alarming  crisis ;  we  may  cheerfully  dispel  all  appre- 
hensions as  to  such  an  agonizing  choice.  From  all 
enlightened  quarters  a  cry  of  indignation  is  raised 
against  this  theological  injustice,  this  blasphemous 
dogmatism.  The  better  portion  of  mankind  wish  to 
live  in  brotherly  love  and  harmony,  and  dislike  to 
be  any  longer  distracted  by  religious  prejudices.    The 

464 


CAN    A    JEW    GO   TO    HEAVEN? 

old  theory,  "A  Jew  or  a  heathen,  though  a  good  and 
moral  man,  can  not  go  to  Heaven,"  will  e'er  long 
belong  to  the  obsolete  notions  which  are  buried,  ob- 
literated and  forgotten.  The  voluminous  theological 
treatises  on  such  subjects  will  be  stored  away  as  food 
for  moths ;  while  mankind,  united  in  the  religion  of 
unprejudiced  justice  and  brotherly  love,  will  inaugu- 
rate the  kingdom  of  "peace  on  earth,  and  good  will 
to  all  men." 

One  word  more  and  I  have  done.  The  question 
naturally  is  suggested,  "And  what  does  the  Jewish 
religion  teach  on  this  subject?"  I  shall  answer  it  in 
a  few  concise  sentences.  Our  religion  has  been  often 
reproached  with  the  assertion  that  it  does  not  teach 
the  doctrine  of  immortality.  Well,  over  four  hun- 
dred years  before  the  advent  of  the  Christian  religion 
it  was  already  said  in  Ecclesiastes  xii,  7:  "Then 
shall  the  dust  return  to  the  dust  as  it  was;  and  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God,  who  gave  it."  This 
teaches  immortality  plainly  and  explicitly  and  beyond 
all  controversy.  And  what  will  come  after  the  grave  ? 
How  will  the  future  existence  be  constituted?  This 
question  is  answered  quite  as  plainly  as  the  first  one 
by  Moses,  in  his  farewell  address  to  his  people, 
Deuteronomy  xxix,  29:  "The  secret  things  belong 
to  the  Lord  our  God."  Only  one  sentence  more  was 
added  by  our  teachers  of  yore,  to  this  sublime  say- 
ing of  their  predecessor,  namely,  the  great  word: 
"The  good  ones  of  all  nations  and  denominations 
shall  participate  in  the  future  bliss  of  Heaven."  This 
is  our  doctrine,  the  Jewish  doctrine,  a  teaching  full 
of  truth,  justice  and  sincere,  religious  brotherly  love. 

Oh,  my  friends,  adhere  to  it  forever.  Try  by  all 
means  to  propagate  and  to  foster  this  spirit  of  true 

465 


MAX  LIUENTHAI,. 

religion.  It  will  assist  in  reconciling  distracted  man- 
kind; it  will  help  in  removing  the  old  hatred,  the 
discordant  prejudices.  We  shall  love  our  fellow  men, 
of  whatever  race  or  denomination,  as  ourselves;  and 
thus  complying  with  the  most  sacred  and  sublime 
dictates  of  Scripture  we  shall  inaugurate  the  era  of 
the  real  religion  of  love,  truth  and  unbiased  justice, 
for  which  all  true  and  good  men  are  longing,  and 
which  will  be  the  true  and  full  redemption  and  resur- 
rection of  the  human  race. 


466 


THE  pre;judice:  against  the  jews. 


THE  PREJUDICE  AGAINST  THE  JEWS. 

(1870.) 

Text — Zachariah  viii,  16.  "Speak  ye  every  man  the 
truth  of  his  neighbor.  Execute  the  judgment  of 
peace  and  truth  in  your  gates." 

Our  age  is  emphatically  called  the  age  of  progress. 
In  the  realm  of  science  discovery  throngs  discovery. 
Problems  which  have  been  thought  mysterious  and 
unknowable  are  solved,  and  the  veil  of  mystery  is 
removed.  With  this  advance  old  prejudices  are  van- 
ishing, and  the  rule  of  eternal  laws  is  more  and  more 
recognized. 

In  the  realm  of  politics,  too,  the  same  progress  is 
marked  everywhere.  The  old  distinction  between 
privileged  classes  and  obedient  subjects  is  giving  way. 
The  citizen  takes  the  place  of  the  subject.  Right, 
justice  and  equality  begin  to  rule  instead  of  an  auto- 
cratic and  bureaucratic  government.  Old  prejudices 
one  after  the  other  are  being  surrendered,  as  the 
modern  state  deals  but  with  citizens  and  their  rights 
and  duties,  disregarding  all  the  old  traditional  follies 
and  exemptions. 

There  is  but  one  province  in  which  this  progress 
is  not  noticeable.     It  is  the  province  of  religion. 

Religion,  which,  according  to  its  pretensions  of 
love  and  humanity,  should  first  and  above  all  try  to 
unite  and  reconcile  the  human  family,  keeps  up  the 
old  feuds  and  dissensions,  and  estranges  men   from 

467 


MAX  UURNTHAL. 

one  another  more  and  more.  Here  the  old  prejudice, 
the  old  religious  aversion  is  not  giving  way.  Some 
even  think  that  certain  classes  would  not  be  unwilling 
to  revive  and  to  reenact  old  medieval  laws  if  the 
strong  arm  of  the  modern  state  would  allow  them  to 
do  it.  But  the  modern  state,  with  its  enlightened 
ideas  of  liberty,  equality  and  freedom  is  far  ahead 
of  the  hostile  principles  of  the  church  and  her  the- 
ology. It  holds  the  latter  in  bounds  and  forces  her 
to  observe  that  love  and  justice  which  she  is  con- 
tinually preaching,  but  never  practicing.  She  is  prac- 
tically the  whole  year  in  contradiction  with  her  teach- 
ings of  divine  and  human  love. 

Hence  religious  prejudice  is  so  slow  in  giving  way. 
Proof  thereof  is  the  silent  animosity  that  reigns  be- 
tween Catholics  and  Protestants.  There  is  no  peace, 
but  only  an  armed  truce,  both  parties  abiding  their 
time  and  opportunity.  They  have  to  keep  peace,  not 
by  their  own  free  will,  but  by  command  and  author- 
ity of  the  state. 

But,  after  all,  it  does  not  concern  us  Israelites 
directly  how  the  Catholics  with  their  infallibility  and 
the  Protestants  with  their  idea  of  a  "Protestant  state 
and  Protestant  country"  will  settle  their  mutual  diffi- 
culties. Time  will  tell  whether  they  will  push  their 
pretensions  to  an  open  conflict,  or  acquiesce  and  sub- 
m.it  to  the  authority  and  law  of  the  country;  whether 
they  will  foster  their  aversions,  or  remove  the  old 
bigoted  prejudices.  What  interests  us  Israelites  di- 
rectly is  the  prejudice  against  the  Jews,  which  up 
to  this  day  is  not  extinguished.  Latent,  like  the 
latent  heat,  it  exists ;  and  hence  it  becomes  our  im- 
perative duty  to  examine  the  causes  thereof,  to  re- 
fute them,  and  to  eradicate  the  evil  with  all  its  roots. 

468 


THE  prejudice;  against  the  jews. 

Let  us  try  to  enumerate  all  the  various  reproaches 
and  suspicions.  Are  we  Israelites  perhaps  strangers 
and  foreigners  in  the  country  in  which  we  live?  We 
have  abolished  all  prayers  referring  to  a  return  to 
Palestine,  and  we  have  declared  in  our  conferences, 
in  our  papers  and  in  our  pulpits  that  the  country  we 
live  in  is  our  home  and  our  fatherland ;  and  that  we 
owe  allegiance  to  nobody  else.  Jerusalem  may  be 
considered  as  the  cradle  of  our  religion,  as  it  is 
revered  also  by  Catholics  and  Protestants  as  a  holy 
city,  but  it  is  all  a  matter  of  reverential  memory  with 
these,  and  we  know  as  our  fatherland  no  other  country 
but  the  one  we  are  living  in. 

Are  we  perhaps  not  loyal  citizens  of  the  country 
we  all  call  our  home  and  the  home  of  our  children? 
Nobody,  I  am  sure,  will  accost  us  with  such  an  ill- 
founded  reproach.  Go  all  over  Europe  and  you  find 
the  Jews  in  the  public  service  of  their  respective 
countries.  The  Jewish  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  the 
Jewish  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  in  Holland  and 
Baden,  the  host  of  Jewish  officials  in  the  public  serv- 
ice have  all  reflected  credit  on  their  people  and  their 
countries.  Read  the  history  of  European  wars,  ex- 
amine the  list  of  their  armies,  review  the  history  of 
those  who  have  fallen  on  their  battlefields,  visit  the 
military  cemeteries  all  over  the  globe,  and  you  will 
everywhere  find  the  testimony  that  with  his  blood  and 
treasure  the  Jew  has  sealed  his  loyalty  to  his  country, 
and  yields  to  none  in  patriotism  and  loyal  devotion. 

Or  are  we  perhaps  averse  to  the  progress  of  civil- 
ization? Do  we,  like  Egyptian  mummies,  as  we  are 
sometimes  nicknamed,  merely  cling  to  the  past,  and 
have  no  sense  for  the  spirit  of  the  age,  its  wants 
and  demands?    Go  to  any  of  the  European  universi- 

469 


MAX   UUENTHAL. 

ties;  examine  any  department  of  human  knowledge 
and  inquiry,  and  you  will  find  Jews  everywhere,  some 
of  them  foremost  in  the  ranks,  and  friends  even  of 
a  Humboldt,  Arago  and  the  other  bright  stars  on  the 
horizon  of  human  wisdom.  Go  to  the  theaters,  and 
who  does  not  listen  with  admiration  to  the  composi- 
tions of  a  Meyerbeer,  Halevi  and  other  masters?  Go 
to  the  museums  and  you  will  find  the  pictures  and 
statuary  by  Jewish  artists,  which  enlist  favorable 
attention.  No,  we  hail  with  joy  and  gratitude  the 
progress  of  modern  civilization;  for  with  it  began  the 
better  days  of  our  political  emancipation  and  redemp- 
tion. 

Or  are  we  intemperate  in  our  habits,  addicted  to 
licentiousness  and  debauchery?  to  quarreling  and 
fighting?  Heaven  forbid  that  we  should  pretend  to 
be  better  than  other  people!  We  have  our  faults  as 
well  as  other  people,  and  do  not  intend  to  disclaim 
them.  But  the  past  history  of  eighteen  centuries 
must  testify  that  we  always  have  been  a  sober  and 
temperate  people;  that  our  domestic  firesides  have 
been  distinguished  for  chastity,  parental  and  filial  af- 
fection, and  that  we  always  abstained  from  riotous 
and  quarrelsome  conduct.  May  Heaven  grant — that 
is  my  sincere  and  fervent  prayer — that  our  young 
men  may  equal  in  the  future  the  past  generations  in 
chastity  and  morality,  and  that  our  women  may  al- 
ways favor  the  old  mothers  of  Israel  in  simplicity 
and  true  maternal  virtues. 

Or  are  we  wanting  in  charity,  in  sympathy  with 
our  fellow  men?  Are  we  penurious  in  contributing 
our  mite  toward  the  relief  of  the  poor  and  unfortu- 
nate? No,  certainly  no.  Our  Christian  brethren  and 
fellow  citizens  will   cheerfully  bear  me  out  when   I 

470 


THE   PREJUDICE   AGAINST   THE   JEWS. 

assert  that  we  are  second  to  none,  whenever  the  sa- 
cred cause  of  charity  and  benevolence  is  espoused. 
The  inscription  on  our  banner  was  always,  "Charity." 
The  saying  of  our  old  rabbis  that  "charity  and  benev- 
olence are  of  more  importance  than  all  religious 
creeds  and  ceremonies  put  together,"  has  not  been 
neglected,  and  we  do  not  consider  it  a  virtue,  but 
merely  an  imperative  duty,  to  help  and  assist,  when- 
ever and  by  whomsoever  we  are  called  upon  for  relief. 

Or  is  our  law  perhaps  liberal  only  toward  our  co- 
religionists and  illiberal  toward  all  Gentiles?  Open 
the  books  of  Moses,  and  he  enjoins  most  emphat- 
ically: "One  law  and  one  statute  shall  rule  for  you, 
and  the  stranger  who  dwells  with  you;"  or  (Lev. 
xix,  34),  "But  the  stranger  who  dwelleth  with  you 
shall  be  as  one  born  among  you,  and  thou  shalt  love 
him  as  thyself."  And  our  rabbis  add,  "The  verse, 
'Man  shall  not  oppress  his  fellow  man,'  means,  'Thy 
fellow  man  must  be  unto  thee  as  thy  brother,  and  thy 
brother  as  thy  fellow  man.'  "  We  know  of  no  dis- 
tinction whatsoever  between  Jew  and  Gentile  and  are 
not  allowed  to  practice  any. 

Or  are  we  perhaps  religiously  intolerant  against 
members  of  other  denominations?  Do  we  doom 
those  whose  creed  and  doctrines  differ  from  ours  to 
everlasting  perdition,  and  exclude  them  from  the  so- 
called  "salvation"?  No,  our  creed  teaches  that  the 
good  ones  of  all  denominations  shall  participate  in 
the  future  bliss  of  heaven.  And  Maimonides,  the 
greatest  theologian  of  Judaism,  already  in  the  twelfth 
century  declared  most  emphatically :  "Know  well 
that  God  only  looks  to  the  heart  and  its  good  inten- 
tions. All  nations  that  exert  themselves  for  morality, 
wisdom  and  revere  their  Creator  will  inherit  the  fu- 

471 


MAX  UUliNTIIAL. 

ture   world."     These   doctrines   are   undoubtedly    far 
ahead  of  the  theological  doctrines  of  many  a  church. 

And  still,  while  we  are  thus  enabled  to  plead  our 
cause,  while,  without  any  vainglory  or  ludicrous  pre- 
tensions, we  can  claim  that  in  our  political,  domestic 
and  social  relations  we  are  no  worse  than  other  peo- 
ple are — still,  I  say,  there  is  the  prejudice  against 
Jews  and  Judaism.  Whence  does  it  emanate?  From 
what  source  does  it  flow?  Let  us,  without  any  fur- 
ther circumlocution,  call  it  by  its  proper  name.  It 
emanates  from  the  fact  that  we  do  not  recognize 
Jesus  as  God,  and  do  not  believe  in  the  salvation  as 
taught  by  the  church. 

To  this  charge  we  must  plead  guilty,  but  we  can 
not  help  it.  As  long  as  it  is  said  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, "Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  is  One;"  or,  "Thou 
shalt  know  and  take  it  to  thy  heart  that  the  Lord  is 
God  in  Heaven  above  and  on  the  earth  beneath,  and 
there  is  none  beside  Him;"  as  long  as  the  prophet's 
word  reads,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel 
and  His  Redeemer,  I  am  the  first  and  I  am  the  last, 
and  beside  me  there  is  no  God,"  so  long  will  we 
faithfully  cling  to  this  sublime  doctrine  which  alone 
is  compatible  with  reason  and  common  sense,  and 
dispels  all  unintelligible  mystery  and  blind  faith.  We 
will  stand  by  it,  assuming  all  the  consequences  flow- 
ing therefrom,  and  feel  more  than  blessed  in  these 
words  which  teach  us  the  universal  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  common  brotherhood  of  man. 

We  do  not  doubt  that  other  denominations  feel 
happy  and  contented  in  the  doctrines  of  their 
churches;  we  hope  that  we  all  will  meet  in  Heaven, 
no  matter  in  what  form  we  worship  our  Heavenly 
Father,  provided  our  life  on  earth  was  characterized 

472 


THE   PREJUDICE   AGAINST  THE   JEWS. 

by  mutual  love,  morality  and  toleration ;  but  we  see 
no  reason  whatever  why  we  should  renounce  our  own 
creed,  of  which  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia  so 
pointedly  said :  "The  Jews  are  not  so  wrong  as  peo- 
ple would  make  us  believe  them  to  be."  Now  we 
trust  in  the  words  of  the  prophet  Zachariah:  "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  as  ye  were  a  curse  among 
the  nations,  so  I  will  save  you  and  you  shall  be  a 
blessing;  fear  not,  but  let  your  hands  be  strong." 
We  hope  and  we  pray  that  all  religious  prejudices 
will  give  way,  as  other  prejudices  have  been  eradi- 
cated ;  and  that  men  worshiping  in  the  most  varied 
forms  will  enjoy  that  denominational  peace  which 
will  be  the  glory  of  our  civilization  and  the  advent 
of  the  true  religion  of  brotherly  love  and  mutual  tol- 
eration. 

May  Heaven's  best  blessings  and  man's  continuous 
progress  accelerate  the  coming  of  the  happy  time. 
Our  glorious  and  God  blessed  country,  by  separating 
church  and  state,  has  taken  the  initiative  in  this  glori- 
ous measure;  and  country  after  country  in  Europe  is 
beginning  to  adopt  the  same  wholesome  policy.  Push 
on,  wise  and  brave  men  of  every  climate  and  every 
religion,  onward,  forward,  the  victory  will  be  yours ; 
for  yours  is  the  right.  Hasten  the  time  when  men 
will  no  longer  anathematize  and  curse  each  other; 
the  time  in  which  love  and  mutual  regard  will  be  the 
standing  rule,  and  fanaticism  and  bigotry  the  power- 
less exception.  By  your  combined  effort  hasten  the 
time  of  which  the  Psalmist  sings :  "How  good 
and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  live  together 
in  unity,  united  on  earth  and  united  in  Heaven,  for- 
evermore." 


473 


MAX  LIUENTHAL. 


THE  CONTEST  FOR  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY  IN 
CINCINNATI;  OR,  THE  BIBLE  QUESTION.^ 


We  are  in  the  heat  of  a  contest,  the  decision  of 
which  will  be  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  whole 
nation.  Shall  the  Bible  and  the  singing  of  religious 
hymns  be  retained  in  our  free  schools  or  excluded 
from  them?  Shall  our  schools  be  free  schools,  in- 
deed, or  shall  they  be  tinged  with  any  kind  of  sec- 
tarianism? This  is  the  question  of  the  day,  which 
now  is  tried  before  the  superior  court  of  this  city, 
and  which,  of  course,  causes  intense  excitement  in  all 
classes  of  the  community. 

If  decided,  as  everybody  expects,  in  favor  of  our 
nonsectarian  school  system,  then  the  agitation  of  in- 
serting an  acknowledgment  of  God  into  our  constitu- 
tion will  be  silenced,  the  aspiration  of  the  Catholics 
for  the  supremacy  of  their  church  will  be  at  least 
legally  frustrated;  the  separation  of  state  and  church 
will  be  gloriously  vindicated,  and  the  brightest  gem 
in  the  American  diadem,  "Religious  liberty  and  free- 
dom of  conscience,"  will  have  been  put  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  kind  of   fanaticism  and  bigotry. 

The  Catholics,  or  rather  the  Catholic  clergy,  are 
the  sworn  enemies  of  our  free  schools.  The  laity  of 
the  Roman  Church  would  live  with  their  fellow  citi- 

^  Two  letters  to  the  Jewish  Times,  New  York,  December 
10  and  17,  1869. 

474 


REUGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

zens  in  peace,  as  heretofore.  But  the  clergy  gains 
daily  a  stronger  hold  over  them,  and  misleads  them 
to  their  hearts'  content.  The  Jesuits,  driven  out  of 
Spain  and  Italy  as  the  enemies  of  their  country,  em- 
igrate to  this  free  country,  and  lay  their  traps  with 
their  usual  masterly  skill. 

For  more  than  nine  months  the  Catholic  Telegraph, 
the  official  organ  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Purcell,  the 
archbishop  of  this  diocese,  has  attacked  the  public 
schools  of  our  city  with  all  kinds  of  nicknames.  It 
called  them  "godless,"  as  they  are  without  any  re- 
ligious instruction ;  warned  the  members  of  the  Ro- 
man Church  against  sending  and  entrusting  their  chil- 
dren to  such  "corrupt  and  vile"  institutions,  denied 
to  the  city  the  right  of  taxing  the  Catholics  for  the 
support  of  such  un-Christian  (that  means  "un-Cath- 
olic")  schools,  and  loudly  and  imperatively  demands 
a  division  of  the  school  fund. 

The  public  schools  of  this  city  are  visited  by  about 
nineteen  thousand  children,  while  the  Catholic  schools 
number  about  twelve  thousand.  An  effort  was  made 
by  the  school  board  to  bring  these  latter  into  the 
public  schools  by  appointing  a  conference  committee, 
to  consult  with  the  archbishop,  as  to  what  modifica- 
tions of  the  course  of  study  he  would  require  in  order 
to  allow  the  Catholic  children  to  visit  the  public  schools. 
After  some  sharp  debates  he  replied  that  during  the 
sitting  of  the  Ecumenical  Council  in  Rome  he  would 
ask  the  opinion  of  Pope  Pius  IX  on  the  subject  and 
then  communicate  to  the  school  board  the  result  of  his 
mission.  The  board,  of  course,  spurned  with  supreme 
contempt  such  a  hierarchical  proposition.  "What," 
said  Rev.  Mr.  Mayo  in  the  school  board,  "we,  the  free 
citizens  of  this  gigantic  country,  shall  wait   for  the 

475 


MAX   LIUENTHAL. 

decision  of  a  prince,  whose  political  influence  is  re- 
duced to  a  minimum,  and  who  was  the  only  prince  of 
Europe  who  recognized  the  rebel  states  as  a  govern- 
ment? Never!  Never!"  The  committee  was  dis- 
charged and  the  attempt  of  a  union  of  the  Catholic  and 
American  elements  abandoned. 

The  Catholics  can  not  be  pleased  either  way.  If 
the  Bible  and  all  sorts  of  religious  instruction  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  schools,  they  will  nickname  them 
"godless,  atheistic  institutions".  If  the  board  will  re- 
tain the  Bible,  then  the  priests  will  cry,  "These  are 
sectarian  schools,  and  we  are  not  bound  to  support 
them".  And  the  Catholic  Telegraph  was  frank  and 
sincere  enough  to  acknowledge  that  nothing  will  satisfy 
the  Roman  priesthood  but  a  division  of  the  school 
fund. 

The  latter,  led  by  the  Jesuits,  know  very  well  what 
they  are  about.  Whosoever  is  master  of  the  youthful 
mind  is  master  of  the  future  and  the  country.  They 
do  not  care  for  human  liberties,  nor  the  glory  of  our 
country — they  care  for  Rome  and  the  holy  church. 
At  her  dictates  they  march ;  her  interests  are  para- 
mount to  them,  and  blind  obedience  to  the  generals 
of  their  orders  is  one  of  their  vows  by  which  they 
are  received  into  the  various  classes  of  the  priesthood. 

While  this  movement  for  a  union  of  the  free  and 
Catholic  schools  was  agitating  the  school  board  and 
the  city,  Mr.  Miller,  a  member  of  the  board,  brought 
in  his  resolution  to  exclude  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
and  all  kinds  of  religious  singing  and  instruction  from 
our  public  schools. 

This  proposition  at  once  aroused  the  wildest  storm 
among  the  Protestant  portion  of  the  community.  The 
resolution  was  seconded  by  all  the  freethinkers  and 

476 


REUGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

all  the  Catholic  members  of  the  board.  This  fact 
arovised  the  suspicion  that  the  Catholic  priests  were 
at  the  bottom  of  the  movement ;  that  the  Catholics 
wanted  to  destroy  our  public  schools,  the  proudest 
ornament  of  all  our  free  and  glorious  institutions ; 
and  it  was  generally  asserted  that  if  we  give  up  our 
schools  we  give  up  our  liberties,  our  ideas  and  rights, 
and  ere  long  we  all  will  be  in  the  grasp  of  the  Roman 
priesthood  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  Jesuits,  who  are 
nothing  but  the  quartermasters  of  Rome. 

So  far,  so  good.  But  at  the  same  time  the  spirit  of 
religious  fanaticism  on  the  part  of  the  Protestant 
churches  was  aroused.  There  came  the  cry  from  the 
pulpits :  "This  is  a  Christian  country,  and  the  Bible 
can  and  dare  not  be  excluded ;  all  our  liberties  and 
rights  are  derived  from  the  Bible;  this  is  a  Christian, 
a  Protestant  nation,  and  neither  infidels  nor  Catholics 
shall  interfere  with  the  religious  spirit  of  our  insti- 
tutions". 

Mass  meetings  were  held  and  numerously  attended; 
petitions  signed  by  thousands  of  citizens  were  hurled 
at  the  school  board ;  the  papers  were  full  of  recrimi- 
nations and  bitter  discussions,  and  all  kinds  of  threats 
and  personal  slanders  circulated.  But  the  school 
board  stood  firm  and  coolly  continued  its  discussion 
of  the  important  motion  of  Mr.  Miller.  The  free- 
thinkers called  a  public  meeting  of  their  own  in  Pike's 
Opera  Hall,  and  Judge  Stallo  and  Rev.  Thomas  Vick- 
ers  delivered  two  masterly  orations  in  vindication  of 
religious  liberty,  the  right  of  the  school  board,  and 
the  indisputable  constitutionality  of  the  proposition. 
This  meeting  was  held  on  Saturday  night,  and  on  the 
following  Monday  evening  the  school  board,  by  a  two- 


477 


MAX  LILIRNTIIAL. 

thirds  majority,  excluded  the  Bible  and  all  religious 
instruction  from  the  public  schools. 

On  Tuesday  morning  the  Protestants  immediately 
applied  to  the  superior  court  for  an  injunction  against 
the  action  of  the  school  board,  and  Judge  Storer 
granted  it.  The  excitement  on  both  sides  grew  more 
intense,  and  both  parties  were  resolved  upon  fighting 
out  the  legality  and  the  constitutionality  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  school  board  called  a  special  meeting  and 
appointed  three  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  city  as 
their  attorneys  at  a  fee  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars. 
Another  cry,  but  all  in  vain,  and  since  last  Monday 
the  case  is  now  on  trial  before  the  court. 

The  judges  of  our  superior  court  are  men  of  un- 
impeachable integrity,  enjoying  the  full  and  unbiased 
confidence  of  the  community — an  encomium  that  can 
not  be  bestowed  on  all  the  justices  of  our  metropoli- 
tan courts.  The  presiding  judge,  Bellamy  Storer, 
though  strongly  tainted  with  theological  proclivities, 
will  prove  himself  worthy  of  the  unbribable  reputa- 
tion he  enjoys. 

Judge  Taft-  is  the  pillar  of  the  radical  Unitarian 
church  of  Rev.  T.  Vickers,  and  the  trial  suits  him  to 
the  very  core.  Judge  Hagans  is  a  Methodist,  but  does 
not  allow  his  judgment  to  run  away  with  religious 
prejudices. 

The  trial  is  a  regular  tournament  between  modern 
philosophy  and  obsolete  theology;  quite  of  another 
stamp  than  Heine's  famous  disputation.  The  treas- 
ures  of   jurisprudence,   theology,   history,   philosophy 

^  Alphonso  Taft,  later  Minister  to  Russia  and  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States ;  the  father  of  ex-President 
William  H.  Taft. 


478 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

and  general  literature  are  overhauled  and  brought  to 
bear  upon  this  important  question. 

Attorney  Ramsey,  in  a  masterly  effort,  opened  the 
case  in  favor  of  the  reading  of  the  Bible.  His  prin- 
cipal arguments  w^ere  that  the  third  section  of  the 
Bill  of  Rights  of  the  Constitution  says:  "Religion, 
morality  and  knowledge  being  essentially  necessary  to 
good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  instruction  shall  forever  be 
encouraged  by  legislative  provision,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  conscience". 

Thereupon  he  argued  that  religion  is  taught  in  all 
the  schools  of  Europe  and  hence  it  must  be  taught  in 
our  free  schools  too ;  and  as  morality  and  all  our 
institutions  are  derived  from  Christianity,  the  Bible 
as  the  fountainhead  of  Christianity  and  our  civiliza- 
tion must  continue  to  be  read  in  these  our  schools. 

He  was  followed  by  Judge  Stallo'  in  favor  of  the 
school  board.  Stallo  is  not  only  an  eminent  lawyer, 
but  a  profound  and  accomplished  scholar,  and  the 
best-read  man  in  the  whole  West.  His  argument 
lasted  for  over  five  long  hours  and  was  an  intellectual 
treat,  indeed.  He  proved  beyond  refutation  that  this 
country  is  no  Christian,  but  an  American  country,  and 
that  our  civilization  is  not  at  all  the  consequence  of 
Christianity.  The  argument  will  be  printed  in  pam- 
phlet form,  and  I  recommend  it  to  all  your  readers. 
It  has  left  a  deep  impression  both  on  the  court  and 
all  its  hearers.  It  was  an  argument  in  favor  of  re- 
ligious liberties,  such  as  only  men  untramelled  by 
theological  legacies  and  bequests  are  able  to  deliver. 

He  was  followed  by  Judge  Hoadly*  in  the  same 

'J.  B.  Stallo,  later  United  States  Minister  to  Italy. 
*  George  Hoadly,  later  Governor  of  Ohio. 

479 


MAX  UUlvNTHAL. 

strain.  Hoadly,  being  at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  the 
city,  is  a  terrible  antagonist  in  any  lawsuit.  With 
masterly  eloquence  he  first  proved  that  the  court  had 
no  jurisdiction  in  the  case  and  then  vindicated  his  as- 
sertion that  the  Bible  is  not  the  source  of  morality. 
I  shall  refer  to  this  point  more  amply  before  conclud- 
ing my  letter,  as  both  speakers  dealt  rather  unre- 
servedly with  the  immoral  stories  of  the  Bible.  Here 
is  one  quotation  of  Hoadly 's  speech : 

"It  is  said  that  there  is  no  morality  without  re- 
ligion, and  because  morality  dates  from  the  Bible,  we 
must  secure  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  schools. 
When  did  the  novel  proposition  emerge  from  the 
brains  of  men  that  the  Bible  was  the  foundation  of 
morality  ?  All  honor  to  the  Bible ;  but  morals  existed 
before  the  Bible,  before  the  world.  Right  and  wrong 
are  inherent  and  bind  the  throne  of  the  Almighty  just 
as  much  as  they  bind  the  hearts  of  men.  .  .  .  Give 
us  entire  emancipation  from  state  interference  in  mat- 
ters of  religion,  and  it  will  be  a  security  in  the  com- 
ing contest  against  those  who  shall  contend  for  ex- 
clusive control,  by  denominations,  in  the  schools 
(against  the  Catholics).  It  will  secure  a  principle, 
which  shall  preserve  us  against  intrusion  on  liberty 
of  conscience,  and  bind  the  present  Constitution  as 
expounded  by  its  highest  tribunal." 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio  has  given  the  follow- 
ing important  decision  in  the  case  of  Bloom  versus 
Richards,  a  decision  of  such  great  importance  that  it 
is  quoted  by  the  courts  of  almost  all  the  states  of  the 
Union,  and  should  be  known  by  every  citizen  of  the 
land: 

"The  Constitution  of  Ohio  having  declared  that  all 
men  have  a  natural  and  inalienable  right  to  worship 

480 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
science ;  that  no  man  shall  be  compelled  to  attend, 
erect  or  support  any  place  of  worship,  or  to  maintain 
any  ministry  against  his  consent ;  and  that  no  prefer- 
ence shall  ever  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  society 
or  mode  of  worship,  and  no  religious  test  shall  be 
required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  of  trust  or 
profit;  it  follows  that  neither  Christianity  nor  any 
other  system  of  religion  is  a  part  of  the  law  of  this 
state.  We  sometimes  hear  it  said  that  all  religions  are 
tolerated  in  Ohio,  but  the  expression  is  not  strictly 
accurate.  Much  less  accurate  is  it  to  say  that  one  re- 
ligion is  a  part  of  the  law  and  all  others  are  only 
tolerated.  It  is  not  by  mere  toleration  that  every  in- 
dividual here  is  protected  in  his  belief  or  disbelief.  He 
reposes  not  upon  the  leniency  of  government  or  the 
liberality  of  any  class  or  sect  of  men,  but  upon  his 
natural  indefeasible  rights  of  conscience,  which,  in  the 
language  of  the  Constitution,  is  beyond  the  control  or 
interference  of  any  human  authority.  We  have  no 
union  of  church  and  state,  nor  has  our  government 
ever  been  vested  with  authority  to  enforce  any  re- 
ligious observance  simply  because  it  is  religious." 

II. 

The  further  the  trial  on  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible 
from  our  public  schools  progresses,  the  more  does  it 
assume  a  character  not  only  of  local  and  national,  but 
cosmopolitan  importance.  The  spirit  of  modern  cri- 
ticism is  arraigned  against  the  shadows  of  antiquated 
theology;  the  spirit  of  free  thought  and  inquiry 
against  the  obsolete  traditions  of  bigotry  and  hie- 
rarchy;    the    spirit    of    an    emancipated    civilization 

481 


MAX   LIUKNTHAI.. 

against  the  thraldom  of    fashionahle  church  notions 
and  fossilized  mummery. 

I  have  stated  in  my  last  letter  that  the  Board  of 
Education  had  engaged  three  prominent  lawyers  to 
defend  its  action  in  reference  to  the  Bible.  All  three 
have  been  on  the  benches  of  our  various  courts,  but 
have  vacated  them  years  ago  for  the  lucrative  business 
of  their  offices. 

They  had  agreed  to  subdivide  the  subject  among 
themselves.  Judge  Stallo,  an  unbeliever  according  to 
the  phraseology  of  the  all-wise  theologians,  was 
charged,  after  having  defined  some  of  the  legal  points, 
to  review  the  question  from  the  historical,  literary  and 
philosophical  standpoint.  Judge  Hoadly,  the  radical 
Unitarian  and  one  of  the  acutest  lawyers  in  the  far 
West,  was  entrusted  with  all  the  legal  points  involved 
in  this  affair.  And  both  of  them  thought  that  Judge 
Matthews,  a  devout  churchmember,  was  to  conclude 
"with  the  prayer". 

Stallo,  the  profound  scholar  and  thinker,  displayed 
such  an  amount  of  learning,  reading  and  bold  origin- 
ality that  the  whole  community  was  startled.  His 
argument  was  named  by  the  papers  "an  oration" ;  it 
was  brilliant,  lucid,  striking  in  the  extreme.  Hoadly, 
as  was  to  be  expected,  left  no  stone  of  jurisprudence 
untouched,  and  defended  the  action  of  the  school 
board  with  a  skill  and  acumen  that  left  a  deep  im- 
pression both  on  the  court  and  the  audience. 

But  both  were  far  surpassed  by  the  argument  of 
Judge  Matthews.^  He  spoke  for  seven  long  hours, 
and  kept  the  courtroom  thoroughly  entranced.  There 
stood  a  devout  Christian,  an  elder  of  his  church,  a 

*  Stanley  Matthews,  later  Associate  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

482 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

pillar  of  his  congregation ;  time  and  again  he  made 
during  his  argument  a  frank  and  open  confession  of 
his  creed  and  sincere  religious  sentiments ;  but  he 
stood  there,  too,  as  the  divine  and  fearless  champion 
of  right,  equality  and  untrammeled  religious  liberty; 
and  even  his  opponents  had  unanimously  to  acknowl- 
edge, "This  was  one  of  the  finest  efforts  ever  made  at 
our  bar".  A  prominent  lawyer  remarked :  "I  would 
rather  have  delivered  this  argument  than  any  speech 
of  Daniel  Webster.  There  was  principle,  truth  and 
conviction  in  his  effort.  Nothing  visionary,  nothing 
for  mere  display ;  every  word  ad  Jiominem  and  to  the 
purpose." 

It  was  the  display  of  the  true,  genuine  features  of 
the  American  character.  The  true  American,  nature's 
nobleman,  does  not  know  anything  about  religious 
fanaticism  and  bigotry.  It  is  only  since  the  large  tide 
of  immigration  has  set  in  that  he  was  somewhat  af- 
fected with  this  spirit  imported  from  Europe.  He  be- 
lieves in  liberty,  civil  and  religious ;  he  takes  his  con- 
stitution for  a  self-evident  truth,  and  not  as  a  mere 
document  of  convenience  and  compromise.  He  respects 
every  creed ;  he  does  not  allow  his  love  for  freedom 
to  be  misled  by  religious  proclivities,  and  he  is  only 
therein  mistaken  that  he  thinks  everybody  else  must 
be  as  freeminded  as  he  is.  God  bless  America  and 
the  Americans. 

Such  a  true  specimen  of  the  unadulterated  Ameri- 
can character  is  Judge  Matthews.  He  entered  the 
lists  "without  fear  or  favor".  He  dealt  severe  blows 
to  the  judges  on  the  bench,  to  his  opponents  and  to 
his  colleagues,  but  all  in  such  a  dignified,  reverential 
way  that  everyone  almost  listened  to  him  with  devo- 
tion.    His  language  was  so  chaste,  sincere,  calm  and 

483 


MAX   IJUENTHAL. 

dignified  that  his  argument  deserves  to  be  translated 
in  the  languages  of  all  civilized  nations.  It  will  prove 
to  be  a  document  for  the  religion  of  the  future,  and 
it  should  not  be  found  missing  in  any  private  or  pub- 
lic library. 

The  space  of  the  Times  does  not  permit  to  print  it 
in  full.  The  Commercial  has  published  an  edition  of 
all  the  arguments  pro  and  con  for  the  trifling  charge 
of  five  cents.  I  heartily  advise  every  one  of  your 
readers  to  procure  a  copy,  if  your  metropolitan  papers 
will  not  publish  these  masterly  arguments  in  full. 

I  shall  give  you  but  a  few  extracts,  mostly  referring 
to  the  Jews,  and  of  special  interest  to  your  readers. 
After  having  depicted  the  various  opinions  of  the 
Protestant  community,  he  continued : 

"Then  there  is  a  large  number  of  the  citizens  of 
this  community  who  are  not  Christians  at  all,  and  yet 
are  devout  religionists.  They  are  the  descendents  of 
the  men  who  crucified  Christ ;  and  yet,  as  old  Sir 
Thomas  Brown  says,  'We  ought  not  to  bear  malice 
against  them  for  that,  for  how  often  since  have  we, 
who  profess  his  name,  crucified  him,  too'.  But  here 
they  are  in  this  community,  devout  worshipers  of  the 
only  living  and  true  God,  according  to  their  conscien- 
tious convictions,  and  I  will  say,  if  Your  Honors 
please,  in  all  respects  capable  of  performing  every 
duty  of  the  civil  state,  and  equally  entitled  to,  not 
toleration — I  hate  this  word,  there  is  no  such  thing 
known  in  this  country  as  toleration — but  civil  and  re- 
ligious equality,  equality  because  it  is  right,  and  a 
right". 

After  having  described  the  Catholics,  he  said : 

"And  now  I  try  to  stand  impartial  and  neutral  be- 
tween these  three  sects  of  men.     I  am  bound  to  look 

484 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

on  them  all  as  citizens,  all  as  entitled  to  every  right, 
to  every  privilege  that  I  claim  for  myself.  And  fur- 
ther, I  do  entertain  the  charity  of  believing  that  they 
are  just  as  honest  and  just  as  sincere  in  their  religious 
convictions  as  I  am." 

Referring  in  a  lengthy  and  practical  argument  to 
the  reading  of  the  Bible,  which  he  proves  to  be  a 
sectarian  book,  he  continued : 

"Now,  if  Your  Honors  please,  what  will  you  do 
with  the  Jew,  of  whom  it  was  once  said  by  a  Jew, 
whose  authority  Your  Honor  recognized,  'What  ad- 
vantageth  it  to  be  a  Jew  ?  Much  every  way ;  but 
chiefly  because  to  him  were  committed  the  oracles  of 
God'.  Your  Honor  has  lectured  in  Dr.  Lilienthal's 
Sabbath  School." 

Judge  Storer,  on  the  bench — "Certainly,  and  I 
would  do  it  again,  and  in  Catholic  schools,  if  they 
would  let  me". 

Judge  Matthews — "And  therefore.  Your  Honor 
recognizes  not  only  civilly,  but  religiously,  that  as  far 
as  they  go,  they  are  on  the  right  road". 

Judge  Storer — "They  have  the  Bible". 

Judge  Matthews — "They  have  a  part  of  it ;  but  the 
remainder  of  it,  to  the  Jew,  is  sacrilege  and  blasphemy 
against  God". 

Judge  Storer — "Not  quite  as  far  as  that,  because 
my  friend,  Dr.  Lilienthal,  made  me  a  present  of  a 
vSyriac  Testament  awhile  ago,  and  said  it  was  the 
language  in  which  Jesus  spoke". 

Judge  Matthews — "Dr.  Lilienthal  did  not  live  in  the 
day,  'when  the  chief  persons  thereof  and  officers  saw 
him,  they  cried  out,  saying,  "Crucify  him.  Crucify 
him".  Pilate  sayeth  unto  them,  "Take  ye  him,  for  I 
find  no  evil  in  him".     The  Jews  answered  him,  "We 

485 


MAX  ULIENTHAL. 

have  a  law,  He  ought  to  die,  because  he  made  himself 
the  Son  of  God".'  So  the  record  of  His  divine  life 
and  death  and  resurrection  is  something  more  to  a 
Jew  than  an  ordinary  life;  it  is  blasphemy,  sacrilege. 
And  yet,  Your  Honor,  would  by  law  compel  the  read- 
ing of  that  book,  of  that  record,  of  that  life  and 
resurrection,  to  the  children  of  Jewish  parents  or  else 
forbid  them  to  come  into  the  common  schools  that  be- 
long to  them,  as  they  do  to  Your  Honor,  and  to  us 
all  equally?" 

The  attorneys  for  the  other  side  advanced  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  the  retention  of  the  Bible,  which, 
to  the  bitter  disappointment  of  the  enlightened  part 
of  the  community,  did  show  to  what  absurdities  men 
are  led  when  they  have  to  defend  a  bad  cause.  Afraid 
of  standing  up  for  a  union  of  church  and  state,  they 
invented  the  new  theory  of  uniting  religion  and  state, 
as  if  both  sentences  were  not  eciuivalent.  Mr.  Rufus 
King  stated  time  and  again,  and  argued  on  it  at  great 
length,  "that  the  state  here  is  asking  succor  from  re- 
ligion". What  an  absurdity !  Do  not  the  Catholics 
advance  the  same  argument ;  and  if  deservedly  cen- 
sured for  it,  are  not  the  Protestants  on  a  par  with 
them  who  wish  to  introduce  such  new  theories  into 
our  country?  But  this  is  not  all.  King  and  Sage  both 
asserted  "that  the  state  has  a  right  to  force  the  child 
away  from  its  parents  into  schools,  and  then  impose 
upon  him  the  teachings  of  religion ;  and  that  the  child 
has  a  right  of  conscience  which  is  superior  to  the 
right  of  parent". 

Does  not  this  argument  sound  like  a  harangue  by 
Torquemada,  the  Grand  Inquisitor  of  Spain?  Did 
not  the  Inquisition  for  the  same  reason,  of  saving  the 
soul,  burn  the  heretics,  and  consider  it  a  holy  work 

486 


RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY    IN    CINCINNATI. 

of  religion?  Judge  Alatthews  had  anticipated  this 
attack  and  asked  the  learned  gentlemen  whether  they 
would  not  approve  also  of  the  Mortara  affair,  and 
all  similar  acts  which  all  were  done  in  magnam  Dei 
ecclesiaeqiie  gloriam?  Thank  God,  these  men  are  not 
by  far  as  fanatic  as  one  would  judge  them  to  be  from 
these  arguments.  King  is  my  personal  friend — a 
gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the  word;  and  during  the 
ten  years  we  were  together  in  the  school  board,  I  have 
always  found  him  to  be  an  American  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  word. 

The  arguments  are  now  closed.  Harper  Brothers 
telegraphed  here  for  the  manuscripts  of  all  the 
speeches,  with  the  intent  of  publishing  them  in  book 
form.  But  the  publishing  house  of  Robert  Clarke  & 
Co.,  of  this  city,  was  ahead  of  them,  and  copies  will 
be  forwarded  next  week  to  New  York. 

I  have  just  seen  the  Hon.  Bellamy  Storer,  the  pre- 
siding judge  of  the  superior  court,  who  said  to  me 
that  the  decision  will  not  be  given  before  three  weeks. 
The  court,  being  fully  impressed  with  the  national  im- 
portance of  the  case,  and  the  judges  being  too  much 
engaged  in  their  special  terms,  they  will  take  their 
proper  time  for  preparing  a  decision  worthy  of  the 
case  and  the  high  reputation  of  the  court. 


487 


INDEX 


Academies  (Jewish). 
See  Seminaries. 

Addresses  delivered  by  Lilien- 
thal,  96. 

Adler,  Samuel,  80. 

Agent  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment, Lilienthal  charged  with 
being,  43. 

Agriculture,  Alexander  I  allows 
Jews  to  found  agricultural 
colony,  173;  aversion  for, 
I95f;  why  Jews  do  not  engage 
in,  250-251. 

Albany,    Beth    El    congregation 

of,  54- 

Albo,  Joseph,  opposes  creed 
sketched  by  Maimonides,  373. 

Alexander  I  shows  gratitude  to 
Jews,  172-173. 

Alfasi,  Isaac,  began  the  codifi- 
cation of  Jewish  law,  373. 

Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Juden- 
tums,  Lilienthal's  contribu- 
tions to,  56. 

America  (U.  S.),  first  religious 
organization  in,  56;  not  a 
"Christian  country,"    112. 

American  Constitution,  author- 
ity of,  for  Jews,  455. 

American  Israelite,  Lilienthal 
co-editor  of,  61. 

American  Jew  defined,  108. 

Anniversary  (twenty-fifth)  of 
Lilienthal,  celebration  of,  69- 

75,  99-.  .      .        .      ^ 

Anti-Jewish  agitation  in  Ger- 
many, 5. 

Anti-Jewish  prejudices  in  Cin- 
cinnati eradicated  through 
Lilienthal,  99. 

Anti-Semitism  in  Germany,  126. 

"Articles  on  Jewish  Literature," 
by  Lilienthal,   57. 


Asmonean,  Lilienthal's  contri- 
butions to,  57. 

Association  of  Rabbis  (first)  in 
the   United    States. 
See  Beth  Din  of  the  United 
States. 

Aub,  Hirsch,  8. 

Aub,  Joseph,  8. 

Auerbach,  Berthold,  126. 

Baltimore,  Friendship  Hebrew 
congregation  of,  54;  Har 
Sinai  congregation  of,   76. 

Bamberger,  Seligman  Baer,  8. 

Bameh  Madlikin,  recitation  of, 
abolished  by  Lilienthal,  61. 

Bavaria,  Jews  in,  1-3;  legal 
statusof  Jews  in,  156;  restrict- 
ive measures  taken  against  the 
Jews  of,  9. 

Bene     Israel     congregation     of 
Cincinnati. 
See  Cincinnati. 

Benjacob,   Isaac,   291. 

Berdichef,  visited  by  Lillienthal, 
31;  community  of,  addresses 
letter    to    Lilienthal's    father, 

33-35- 

Berkowitz   Bros.,  of   Riga,    139. 

Berkowitz,    N.,    15. 

"Berliner,"  nickname  given  Li- 
lienthal by  Russian  Jews,  20. 

Besarabia,  23. 

Beth  Din  of  the  United  States, 
account  of,   54-56. 

BibikoflF,  Lieutenant-General,  23. 

Bible  in  public  schools  contro- 
versy, ch.  VI;  66,  98f,  loof; 
the  Mozart  Hall  address  on, 
120-122;  the  Ohio  case,  474- 
487. 

See    also    Church    and    State 
controversy. 


489 


INDEX. 


Bible,    the,    and    the    Shulchan 

Aruch,  392-395. 
Bible,    study    of,    neglected    In 

governmental  schools  for  Jews 

in  Russia,  41. 
"Biblical    History,"    by    Hecht, 

translated    by    Lilienthal,    95. 
"Bibliograpkische  Notizen,"  etc., 

by  Lilienthal,  9f. 
"The     Blood     Covenant,"     by 

Lilienthal,  95. 
Bohemia,  Jewish  disabilities  in, 

3- 

Boston,  Ohabei  Shalom  congre- 
gation of,  54. 

Brest-Litovsk,  Lilienthal  well 
received    in,    362. 

Brown,  Mrs.  (a  Jewess),  at- 
tached to  Russian  imperial 
household,    176. 

Byalystok,  Lilienthal's  visit  in, 
360-362. 

Catholic  Church,  37of,  376. 

Catholic  clergy  enemies  of  free 
schools,   474-476. 

Cavour,  Count  di,  quoted,  117. 

Censors  (literary)  in  Russia,  201. 

Central  Conference  of  American 
Rabbis,  56,   130. 

Chayim  of  Volozhin,  started 
Jeshibah,  346;    tomb  of,  347. 

Charity  work  in  Russia,  236-240. 

Chassidim,  12,  20,  31,  128,  357; 
in  Minsk,  28,  33,  306,  354-359. 

Chassidim-Stuebel,  divine  serv- 
ice at,  355-357- 

Chernigof,  23. 

Christian  funerals,  Lilienthal 
asked  to  officiate  at,  98. 

Christian  inspectors  employed 
for  Jewish  schools  In  Russia, 
40-41. 

Christian  pulpits,  Lilienthal 
preached   from,   96. 

Christian  state. 

See    Church    and    State    con- 
troversy. 

Christianizing   America. 

See    Church    and    State    con- 
troversy. 


Christianizing  the  Jews  not  aim 

of  reform,  368f. 
Church   and   State  controversy, 

ch.  VI;  66,  74,  100,  109,  456- 

457- 

See   also   Bible   in   the   public 

schools    controversy. 

Cincinnati: 

Bene  Israel  congregation,  ch. 
IV;  (elects  Lilienthal  as  rabbi, 
59;  Mound  street  temple 
built,  65;  address  at  laying 
of  cornerstone  of,  453-459; 
dedicated,  66-69;  celebrates 
Lilienthal's  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary as  rabbi,  99;) 
Board  of  Education  and  the 
Bible  in  public  schools  contro- 
versy, 120;  (elects  Lilienthal 
as  member,  100;) 
Good  Samaritan  Hospital  aid- 
ed by  Lilienthal,  99; 
Medical  College  Board  of 
Trustees  elects  Lilienthal  as 
member,   lOO; 

Personal  relations  of  Jews  and 
Gentiles  in,  96-99; 
Relief  Union  elects  Lilienthal 
as  director,  lOo; 
She'erlth  Israel  congregation, 
62,  65; 

Union  Board  of  High  Schools 
elects  Lilienthal  as  member, 
100; 

Unitarian  Church  of,  first  in 
U.  S.  to  have  a  rabbi  preach 
from  its  pulpit,  96; 
University  Board  of  Directors 
elects  Lilienthal  as  member, 
100. 

Cincinnati  Conference  of  Rabbis 
(June  5-9,  1871),  80-83;  (No- 
vember, 1870),  112. 

Circuit  preaching,  Lilienthal  the 
first  to   recommend,   8if. 

Civil  War  of  the  U.  S.,  Lilien- 
thal's address  at  conclusion 
of,  398-414;  Lilienthal's  ef- 
forts during  the,    124-125. 

Cleveland  Conference  of  Rabbis 


490 


INDEX. 


(October,  1855),  76-78;  (July 
12-15,   1870).  78-80,   III. 

Cleveland,  Tiffereth  Israel  con- 
gregation of,   96. 

Cohn,   Shabbatai,   pew  of,   272. 

Commission  on  Jewish  educa- 
tion in  Russia,  29-31;  meet- 
ings of,  37-38,  44;  members 
of,  36;  suggested  by  Lilien- 
thal,  324-326. 

Commissioner  of  Education  in 
Washington,   112. 

Confirmation  ceremony  intro- 
duced in  Jewish  school  of 
Riga,    146. 

Confirmation  class,  first  in  the 
United  States,  54. 

Constantine,   Grand   Duke,    14. 

Conversion  of  the  Jews  in 
Russia,  government  aimed  at, 
22,  40,  57-58. 

Conversion  to  the  Greek  Cath- 
olic Church,  proposal  made 
to  Lilienthal,  42-44,  47. 

Converted  Jews  in  Russia,  162, 
171-176. 

Council  of  Ministers  (Russian) 
deliberates  on  question  of 
Jewish  education,  20;  peti- 
tions Nicholas  I  to  revoke 
ukase  of  April,   1843,  44. 

Cox,   General  Jacob   D.,    1 30. 

Cremieux,    Adolphe,    36-37. 

Crown  rabbis,  24. 

"Datschel,"  nickname  given 
Lilienthal  by  Russian  Jews, 
20,  32. 

Day  of  Atonement,  service  of, 
at  the  Jeshibah  of  Volozhin, 

351-353- 

"Decrees  for  the  Jews,"  sub- 
mitted by  Uwaroff  to  Nicho- 
las I,  2of. 

Detroit,  Congregation  Shaare 
Zedek  of,  96. 

Deutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung, 
quoted,  42-43. 

Diakoff,  Lieutenant-General,  24. 

Dohm,  377. 


Dolgonicki,      Adjutant-General, 

Dorpat,   German   university  of, 

217-218. 
Duksta-Dykshinski,     Counselor, 

198-201,    320,    325-326. 

Edelman,  Hirsch,  291. 
Edicts  against  Jews  in  Russia 

41-    . 

Education  (Jewish)   in  Bavaria, 

6-7-  . 

Education  of  the  Jews  in  Rus- 
sia; attitude  of  the  Byaly- 
stock  community  toward  the 
plan  of,  360;  attitude  of  the 
Minsk  community,  308-312, 
359;  attitude  of  the  Mitau 
community,  337;  attitude  of 
the  Riga  community,  336f; 
attitude  of  the  Vilna  commu- 
nity, 263-269,  337-339;  Jew- 
ish schools  to  be  patterned 
after  Russian  schools,  39-40; 
Lilienthal's  mission  in  behalf 
of,  ch.  II;  must  become  less 
exclusively  Talmudic,  I94f; 
plan  of,  12-14,  29,  245-248, 
324-326. 

Education  of  rabbis  in  Germany, 

7- 

"Education  of  the  Human 
Race,"   by   Lessing,    377. 

Educational  institutions  in  Rus- 
sia,  Jews   admitted    into,    13. 

Einhorn,  David,  8,  76-78,  80. 

Emancipation  of  the  Jews  in 
Bavaria,  5;  in  France,  196; 
in  Germany,  196;    in  Prussia, 

378-. 
Emancipation    of    the    Jews    in 

Russia    urged    by    Lilienthal, 

22,   197. 
Ezehu   Mekamon,    recitation   of, 

abolished    by    Lilienthal,    6of. 

Fahrenheim,  Count,  182. 
Falkenberg,  Baron,   133-134. 

Farming. 

See  Agriculture. 
Feigin,  (converted  Jew),  175. 


491 


INDEX. 


Felsenheld,   Rabbi,   55. 
"Fragments    of    Wolfenbiittel," 

by  Lessing,  377. 
France,  Jewish  emancipation  in, 

196. 
Frank,  Dr.,   13. 
Freiberg,  Julius,  71. 
"Freiheit,  Friihling  und  Liebe," 

by  Lilienthal,  95. 
Fiirth,    Jews    in,    3;     Yeshibah 

of,  8. 

Geiger,  Abraham,  26. 

German  lecture  (first)  delivered 
in  Russia,  232-233. 

Germany,  emancipation  of  Jews 
in,   196. 

Getz,  servant  to  Lilienthal, 
359-360. 

"God,  Religion  and  our  Amer- 
ican Constitution,"  by  Lilien- 
thal,  112. 

Gordon,  Rabbi  Israel,  of  Vilna, 
268-269. 

Governmental  rabbis. 
See  Crown  rabbis. 

Greek  Church,  bishop  of,  at 
Riga,   227. 

Greeley,  Horace,   104. 

Grodno,   23,  31. 

Guenzberg,  Mordecai  Aaron, 
20,  30  (n.). 

Gutheim,  James  K.,  52. 

Gymnastics  performed  by  Rus- 
sian Jewish  boys,  299-300. 

Hagans,  Judge,  478. 

Hamburg  Temple,    143. 

Hamburger,  H.  W.,  15. 

Hamburger,   Wolf,   8. 

Haskala  movement  in  Russia, 
12-13,  27. 

Hebrew  Publication  Society 
(first   American),    81. 

Hebrew  Review,  The,  edited  by 
Lilienthal,    95. 

Hebrew  Union  College,  estab- 
lishment of,  84f;  opening  of, 
92;  Lilienthal's  address  at 
the,  84-91. 


Hebrew     Union     School     (New 

York),  58. 
Heilprin,  Israel,  36. 
Hep!    hep!    5. 
Herder,  377. 
Herschel,     Rabbi,     opposed     to 

reform,  367-368. 
Hessen,  Julius,  quoted,  13   (n.), 

26  (n.),  37  (n.),  42  (n.). 
Hirsch,  Jacob  von.  6. 
Hirsch,   Samuel,   78. 
Hoadly,  George,  quoted,  480. 
Horn,  Meier,   14. 

Ichenhausen,  Jews  in,  3. 

Inaugural  sermon  preached  by 
Lilienthal    in    Cincinnati,    59. 

Inauguration  address  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Riga  school,  146. 

Indiana  State  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation, addressed  by  Lilien- 
thal,  123. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  96;  address 
at  laying  of  cornerstone  of 
temple  at,  444-453. 

Ingolstadt  fortress,  Jews  not 
allowed  to  remain  in,  9. 

"Innovators,"  9. 

Installation  of  Lilienthal  as 
"chief  rabbi"  of  New  York,  52. 

"Is  Judaism  a  Religion?"  by 
Lilienthal,   107. 

Isaac  b.  Hayyim  of  Volozhin, 
32,  38,  339.  342,  344-352. 

Israel  Baal  Shem,  12. 

Itzele,  Reb. 

See     Isaac     b.     Hayyim     of 
Volozhin. 

Jacobs,   Henry  S.,   130. 

Jeshibah   of    Voloshin,    346-349. 

Jeshurun,  Rabbi  Israel  Michael, 
306,  354- 

"The  Jew  a  Riddle,"  by  Lilien- 
thal, 95,    127. 

Jew,  the,  an  alien,   loi. 

Jewish  congregational  life  in  the 
United  States,  49. 

Jewish  education  in  Russia. 
See '   Education. 


492 


INDEX. 


Jewish    history,    lessons    to    be 

drawn  from,  372;    not  taught 

in  Jewish  schools  in  Russia,  41. 
Jewish    litterateurs    send    letters 

of  appreciation  to  Uwaroff,  25. 
Jewish     merchants     in     Russia, 

230-231. 
Jewish  nationality,  loss  of,  not 

cause  for  lamentation,  62. 
Jewish    Publication    Society    of 

America,  81  (n.). 
Jewish  quarterly,  publication  of, 

urged  by  Lilienthal,  92. 
Jewish   question   in   Russia,    56, 

193-197-.  .         . 

Jewish  religion,  instruction  in, 
excluded  from  governmental 
schools  in  Russia,  41;  dis- 
trust in  government's  atti- 
tude toward  the,  246-247; 
government's  promise  not  to 
interfere  with,  30,  330;  Jews 
fear  influence  of  modern  edu- 
cation  upon   the,   294-299. 

Jewish  schools  in  Bavaria,  6. 

Jewish    schools    in    Russia,    ef- 
forts to  establish,  13-14;    sup- 
port of,  38. 
See  also  Education. 

Jewish  soldiers  in  Russia  under 
Nicholas  I,  162-167. 

Jewish  teachers  in  Germany 
offer  their  services  to  Russia, 

39- 

Jewish  Times,  iii. 

Jewish  women  (Russian),  225, 
279-280,  340-341- 

Jews  (foreign)  forbidden  to  enter 
Russia,  168. 

Jews  (Russian)  blamed  by  Lilien- 
thal for  their  moral  status,  36; 
degree  of  civilization  of,  198; 
poverty  of,  139-140;  suspi- 
cious of  educational  plan  of 
the  government,  42;  tenden- 
cies among  the,  36. 

Jews  in  Germany  interested  in 
the  educational  plans  of  Nich- 
olas I,  25-26,  39. 

"Jews  in  Russia  under  Nicholas 
I,"  by  Lilienthal,  57. 


Jews  and  Christians  in  Cincin- 
nati, personal  relations  of,  73. 

Judaeophobia    in    Russia,    50. 

Judiasm,  endangered  by  Men- 
delssohn's doctrines,  379;  es- 
sence of,  450;    misunderstood, 

454-  .     ^.     . 

Jonas,  Mr.,  first  Jew  m  Cmcm- 

nati,  453. 
Joseph  of  Austria,   378. 
Jost,  L  M.,  26. 

Kahana,  quoted,  30  (n.). 
Kankrin,    Count,    44;     proposed 
settlement  of  Siberia  by  Jews, 

-SI- 
Kant,  advocates  religious  liberty, 

377,  380. 

Karaites  in  Russia,  260,  334. 

Kaula,  Raphael,  6. 

Keokuk,  Iowa,  Bene  Israel  con- 
gregation of,  96. 

Kherson,  23,  31. 

Kief,    23;    Jews   expelled   from, 

174-  ,  ^    ^ 

"Kikayon    Deyonah,'      30    (n.). 
King,  Rufus,  quoted,  486. 
Kishenef,  31. 
Klatzko,   Mr.,   27. 
Kley,  Dr.,  16,  143. 
Koenigsberg,  42. 
Kohlmeyer,  Rabbi,  55. 
Kohn,   Rabbi,   A.,   poisoned   by 

Chassidim,  362f. 
Kraftstroem,   Lieutenant-Gener- 

al,    inspects    school    in    Riga, 

242-243. 
Kriegshaber,  2. 
Kurland,  23. 


"L.  D.,"  Lilienthal  signed  ar- 
ticles with  letters  of,  57. 

Lebele,  Rabbi  (son-in-law  of 
Isaac  of  Volozhin),  344. 

Leeser,  Isaac,  48,  76-77,  129, 
369;    quoted,   384. 

Lehmeier,  Dr.  John,  47. 

Lehmeier,  Mrs.  John  (nee  Lilien- 
thal),  4,   47. 


493 


INDEX. 


Leipzig  temple,  position  of 

preacher  offered  to  Lilienthal 

by,   lo. 
"Leket  /Imarim,"  quoted,  20  (n.). 
Lerchenfeld,  Minister,    134. 
"Let  us  Alone,"   by  Lilienthal, 

78. 
"Let    us    Consult    Others,"    by 

L  Leeser,  yj. 
Levi,  Dr.  (converted  Jew),  237- 

238. 
Levinsohn,  Isaac  Baer,    14. 
"Liberty    and    Popular    Educa- 
tion,"  by   Lilienthal,    123. 
Lichtenstein  family  of  Munich,  4. 
Lichtfreunde  society,  65. 
Lilienthal,    Dina    (nee    Lichten- 
stein), 4. 
Lilienthal,   Max: 

Birth,  4; 

Family    standing    in    Munich 

community,  6; 

Education   (Hebrew   and   sec- 
ular), 7-8; 

Graduation  thesis,  8; 

Position  in  diplomatic  service 

offered,  8; 

Asked  to  become  a  convert  to 

Catholic  Church,  8; 

His  description  of  the  Hebrew 

MSS.    in    the    Royal    Library 

of  Munich,  9; 

His    proposed    work    on    the 

Jews  in  Bavaria,  10; 

Position    of    preacher    offered 

by  Szegedin  congregation,  10; 

Called  to  Riga,  15; 

Recommended  to  Uwaroff,  16; 

Left   for  Russia,    16; 

Arrives  in  St.  Petersburg,  16; 

Elected  preacher  in  Riga,  19; 

Delivers  inaugural  address,  18; 

Russian    career,    ch.    H    (see 

also  "My  Travels  in  Russia," 

159-363);. 

Commissioned     to    visit     the 
Jewish  communities,   29; 
Elected    preacher    in    Odessa, 

Willing  to  remain  in  Russia, 
42; 


Reasons     for     his     departure 
from  Russia,  42-45; 
First  years  in  America  (New 
York  career),  ch.  HI; 
Personal  appearance,  49; 
Literary    activity,    56-58; 
Educational    activity    (in    U. 
S.),  58; 

Rabbi  of  the  Bene  Israel  con- 
gregation (Cincinnati),  ch.  IV; 
His  alleged  change  from  ortho- 
doxy to  reform,  65-66; 
In  public  life,  ch.  V; 
The  American  citizen,  ch.  VI; 
Closing  years,  ch.  VII; 
Death,  130. 

"Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal  on  Re- 
form," by  I.  Leeser,  77. 

Lilienthal,  Mrs.  Max  (nee 
Nettre),  4,  47;  letters  to, 
136-137,    149-150. 

Lilienthal,  Samuel,  4,  7;  letter 
to,   142-150. 

Lilienthal,  Seligman  Lob,  4,  6; 
letters    to,    133-141,    151-153. 

Lilienthal,   Silas,  4. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  address  by 
Lilienthal  on  assassination  of, 
415-429;    an   appreciation  of, 

.4307443- 
Livonia,   Jew  not  permitted   to 

settle   in,    218. 
Loewe,  Dr.  L.,  37. 
Loewi,  Isaac,  8. 
Lubowitz,  31. 
Lurie,  Mr.,  of  Minsk,   357-358. 

Madison,  Ind.,  temple  of,  96, 
105. 

"Maggid  Emeth"   30   (n.). 

"Maggid  Jeshuah,"  by  Lilien- 
thal, 30-31. 

Maimon,  Solomon,  291. 

Maimonides,  372f;    quoted,  471. 

Maltitz,  Baron,   134. 

Mannheimer,  I.  N.,  26;  opinion 
on  Russian  Jews  of,  159. 

Marx,  Anselm,  6. 

Maskilim,  12,  27;  attitude  to- 
wards Lilienthal,   19. 

Matrikelgesetz,  2-3,  89,   155-156. 


494 


INDEX. 


Matthews,    Stanley,    483-486. 

Max  Emanuel,  Elector,  i. 

Mayo,  Mr.,  member  of  Cincin- 
nati school  board,  quoted, 
475-476.  _ 

Melammedim  in  Russia,  _  41; 
attitude  towards  educational 
plan,   306,   313,   339- 

Mendelssohn,  Moses,  12;  m- 
fluence  of,    13,   378-379. 

Merzbacher,    Rabbi    Leo,    51. 

Mileradowitsch,  Count,  173-174- 

Military  service,  certain  classes 
of  Jews  exempted  from,   194. 

Miller,  Mr.,  member  of  Cincin- 
nati school  board,  476. 

Milwaukee,  temple  Emanuel  of, 
96. 

Minhag  America,  55,  69,  78. 

Ministry  of  Education  in  Russia, 
considers  plan  for  Jewish  edu- 
cation, 29. 

Minsk,  Jewish  community  of, 
27-29,  3i>  305-312,  359- 

Mirkowitsch,  Lieutenant-Gener- 
al,  23,  299. 

Mirkowitsch,  Mme.,  Lilienthal's 
interview  with,  301-303. 

Mission  of  the  Jews,  62.  _ 

Mitau,  Jewish  community  of, 
256,  337. 

Mitzwot,  sale  of,  abolished  by 
Lilienthal,  60. 

Mogilef,  24,  31. 

Montefiore,  Sir  Moses,  36-37. 

Moore,   Rev.   Henry,    107. 

Mortara  case,   iio-iii. 

Moscow,  Jews  expelled  from,  174. 

Moses.  Phineas,  453. 

Munich,  Jewish  community  of, 
2,  5-6;  Chebra  Kadischa  of,  2; 
first  synagogue  built  in,  5-6. 

Nachtnan,  Benjamin,  15,  135, 

337- 

Napierski,  director  of  schools  in 
Livonia,  145,  226-227. 

Napoleon  I,  conduct  of  Jews 
during  Russian  invasion  of, 
172-173;  Jewish  educational 
reform  of,  324;    quoted,  261. 


Natchez,  Mississippi,  temple  of, 

96. 
"Nathan  the  Wise,"  by  Lessmg, 

377- 

National  rabbinical  ofRce,  pro- 
posed to  be  established  in 
Washington,  82. 

"National  Reformers,"  The,  of 
Philadelphia,   115. 

Nechemjah,  Rabbi,  of  Riga, 
249-250. 

Neology,  9. 

Nettre,  Isaac,  47;  letters  to, 
137-141,    151,    154-156. 

New  Haven,  Mishken  Shalom 
congregation  of,  54. 

New  York,  49,  53,  60;  Anshe 
Chesed  congregation  of,  in- 
vites Lilienthal  to  preach,  51; 
Emanuel  congregation  of,  51, 
76  (calls  Lilienthal,  64;  dedi- 
cation of  temple,  54);  German 
Jewish  congregations  of,  51; 
Lilienthal's  arrival  in,  48; 
Rodef  Shalom  congregation 
of,  51;  Shaare  Shomayim 
congregation   of,    51. 

New  York  Conference  of  Amer- 
ican Rabbis  (October  24, 
1870),   80. 

Nicholas  I,  14,  23,  50,  57;  ap- 
proves plan  of  conveying  of 
Jewish  synod,  326;  charac- 
terization of,  178-180;  ex- 
pels Jews  from  cities,  44,  174; 
grants  certain  classes  of  Jews 
exemption  from  military  serv- 
ice, 194;  Jews  propose  to 
present  painting  to,  39;  per- 
mits Jews  to  settle  in  Siberia, 
252-253;  pleased  with  prog- 
ress in  Riga  school,  244;  pre- 
sents diamond  ring  to  Lilien- 
thal,  19,   146,  240-241. 

North  Carolina,  laws  regarding 
Jews  in,  109. 

Occident,  48,  77. 
"Ode  to  the  Emperor  Joseph," 
by  Klopstock,  377. 


495 


INDEX. 


Odessa,  31;  Jewish  school  found- 
ed in,  15. 
Ohio     Evangelical     Association, 

"7-     . 
Oppenheim,  Mr.,   to  paint  pic- 
ture as  a  present  to  Nicholas  I, 

39)  334-335- 
Orele,   Rabbi,  of  Riga,   221-222, 

224-225. 
Orient,  Der,  43. 
Orthodoxy  (Jewish),  Lilienthal's 

sympathy  with,  52;  in  Russia, 

28. 
Ost  und  West,  20  (n.)- 
"Our  Brethren  in  the  West  and 

in  San  Francisco,"  by  Lilien- 

thal,  97. 

Pahlen,  Baron  von,  23. 

Pale    of    Settlement,    44;     edict 

relating  to,  41. 
Papal    infallibility,    III,    1 18. 
Pappenheimer,  Israel  Hirsch,  6. 
"The  Parties,"  by  Lilienthal,  77. 
Passover,   preparation  for,   313- 

314- 

Passport,  lack  of,  occasions 
trouble,    168-171. 

Paul,  Emperor,  17. 

Pentateuch,  Mendelssohn's  Ger- 
man translation  of,  41. 

Perejitoe,  37  (n.)- 

Perl,  Joseph,  14  (n.)- 

"Personal  God"  incident,  the,  82. 

Philadelphia  Conference  of  Rab- 
bis, 78. 

Philippson,  Ludwig,   10,   16,  23, 

26,  43,  49,  143,  159,. 334- 
Pitum    Haktoreth,    recitation    of, 

abolished,  61. 
Piutim,  recitation  of,  abolished, 

60. 
Police,  Russian,   204-206. 
Poltava,  23. 
Poor    (Jewish)    in    Russia,    237- 

239.    313-314- 
Posen,     Mr.     (converted     Jew) 
private  secretary  to  Nicholas 

I,  175- 
Potocki,  Count,  martyrdom  of, 

304- 


Pratasoff,  Count,  203-204. 

Prayer   book   question,    the,   79. 

Prayer  books  of  reform  rabbis,  55. 

"Predigten  in  der  Synagoge  zu 
Riga,"  by  Lilienthal,  148  (n.). 

Prejudice  against  Jewish  reli- 
gion, 467-473- 

Proselytizing  scheme  of  the  Rus- 
sian government,  21,    37,  46. 

Prussia,  Jewish  emancipation 
in,  3. 

Purcell,  Archbishop,  attacks 
public  schools,  47Sf. 

Rabbi  R ,  piety  and  poverty 

of,  280-281. 

"Rabbinical  Codices,  or  the 
Shulchan  Aruch,"  by  Lilien- 
thal, 77. 

Rabbinical  Literary  Association, 
the,   71,  93-95,    129-130. 

Rabbinism,  stronghold  of,  in 
Minsk,  305-306. 

Rabbis    and    priests   compared, 

372; 
Rabbis  in  Russia,   influence  of, 

222-223;  proposed  educational 

commission  of,  324-329. 
Radicalism,    Lilienthal    has    no 

sympathies  with,  52. 
Ramsey,  attorney,  479f. 
Rapoport,  S.  J.  L.,  382. 
Rappoport,  Susele,  306-308,  354, 

357- 

Reform  Judaism,  61-64,  129; 
discussed,  367-397;  influence 
of,  deplored  by  Rabbi  Leeser, 
381;  Lilienthal's  attitude  to- 
wards, 52-53. 

"Reformers  Want  to  Uproot 
All,"  by  Lilienthal,  61. 

Reforms  in  the  ritual,  advocacy 
of,  60-61. 

"Relief  for  the  South,"  by 
Lilienthal,    125. 

Religious  libert)'',   loi,   107. 
See  also  Bible  in  public 
schools;    Church  and  State. 

Rexford,  Rev.  E.,  97. 

Riga,  Jews  in,  lof,  17-18,  135, 
140;    commend   government's 


496 


INDEX. 


plan  of  education,  336-337; 
Jewish  school  in,  15,  18-19, 
145-147,  233-234;  LiUenthal 
called  as  preacher  of,  11,  159, 
220-221;  orphan  asylum  es- 
tablished at,  235-237. 

Risberg,    Professor,    18-19. 

Risseloff,  Count,   193. 

"Rome  or  America,"  by  Lilien- 
thal,   106. 

Rosenfeld,  Samson  Wolf,  5. 

Roenthal,   Nissim,   20,   27,   258. 

Russia,  Jews  can  not  become 
naturalized  in,  156-157;  offi- 
cials easily  bribed  in,  185-188; 
persecution  of  the  Jews  in, 
126;     school   system   in,    143. 

Russia  and  America  contrasted, 
49. 

Russian  Jew^s. 

See  Jews;  Education;  Con- 
verted Jews. 

Russians  pay  much  attention  to 
education,  202. 

Russification  of  the  Jews,  39. 

"Russische  Skizzen,"  by  LiUen- 
thal,  56-57. 

Sabbath  observance  in  Vilna, 
273-280. 

Sabbath  School  Visitor,  estab- 
lished by  LiUenthal,  92. 

Sabludowski,  Itzele,  of  Byaly- 
stok,  360-362. 

Sachs,  Senior,  291. 

Saengerfest  (National),  LiUenthal 
elected   president  of,    100. 

St.  Petersburg,  20,  23-24,  28-29, 
44;  Alexander  I  permits  Jews 
to  live  in,  172;  Jews  expelled 
from,  174. 

Salomon,  Gotthold,  16,  143. 

San  Francisco,  Lilienthal's  jour- 
ney to,  97. 

Sanhedrin,  convened  by  Napo- 
leon I,  324. 

Scheinesson,  N.  A.,  15. 

Scheinhaus,  Leo,  quoted,  30 
(n.),  40  (n.). 

Schichmatoff,  Prince  Shurmski, 
282f. 


Schneersohn,  Mendel,  33,  36. 
Sebastapol,  Jews  expelled  from, 

174. 
Selichoth    observance    in    Vilna, 

340-341- 

Seligstein,   M.   H.,   6. 

Seminaries  (Rabbinical)  to  be 
founded  in  Wilna  and  Zhito- 
mir, 38. 

Seminarv  (Rabbinical),  project 
for,  80,  83-84. 

Serfdom,  Nicholas  I  seeks  to 
abolish,  180. 

Shulchan   Aruch,    authority    of, 

.  391-395- 

Siberia,  Jews  settle  in,  251-253. 

Sinai,  76-77. 

Slominsky,   Ch.   S.,  291. 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  by 
LiUenthal,    77,    367-368. 

Stallo,  J.  B.,  130,  477,  479. 

State    and    Church. 
See  Church  and  State. 

Stein,    Leopold,     8. 

Steinheim,  S.  L.,   16,   143. 

Stern,  Basilius,  15,  36,  38. 

Stern,  Moritz  Abraham  (math- 
ematician), 291. 

Storer,  Judge  Bellamy,  64,  478. 

Stroganoff,  Count,  16,  135,  144, 
192-193. 

Sulzer,  26  (n.). 

Szegedin,  congregation  of,  offers 
LiUenthal  position  as  preacher, 
10. 

Taft,  Alphonso,  478. 

Talmud,  234-235,  372f;  ex- 
cluded from  government's 
schools  in  Russia,  41;  reform 
justified  by,  61;  study  of,  in 
Russia,  286-288,  350. 

Tarnopol,  Jewish  school  at, 
14  (n.). 

Temple,  destruction  of,  not 
cause   for   lamentation,   62. 

Theology  and  religion,  difference 
between,  68. 

Tisha  B^ah  service,  LiUenthal 
refuses  to  be  present  at,  62. 

Turkul,    Minister,    207-208. 


497 


INDEX. 


Ukase  forbidding  Jews  to  live 
near  the  Russian  frontier,  157. 

Uman,  Jewish  schools  estab- 
lished at.  13. 

"Union  and  Usages,"  by  Lilien- 
thal,  77,  385-391. 

Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations,  63,  80,  83,  92. 

Union  of  Jewish  ministers,  for- 
mation of,  urged  by  Lilienthal, 
92. 

Union  Prayer  Book,  55-56. 

United  Baptists  Churches  of 
Virginia,    121. 

United   States. 
See    America. 

Universal  Evangelical  Associa- 
tion,  118. 

Usages,  an  argument  for  reform, 
388-389. 

Uwaroff,  Count,  15-16,  19-20,  22, 
24-25,  29,  31,  36,  38-41,  d.6, 
48,  I34-I35>  143  (n.),  I44-I45> 
160,  176,  189-194,  208-209, 
244-248,  321. 


Valentine,  Dr.,  291. 
Vatican  Council,  106. 
Vicksburg,     Miss.,      102,      122; 

Anshe     Chesed     congregation 

of,  96. 
Vilkomir,  316. 
Vilna,  Rabbi    Elijah,  Klaus   of, 

270. 


Vilna,  Jews  in,  21,  23,  27-28, 
26if;  attitude  towards  plan 
of  education  of,  263-268,  305, 
31S-316,  337-339;  description 
of  synagogue  of,  269-272; 
Jewish  schools  in,  283-294; 
Sabbath  observance  in,  273- 
2S0. 

Vitebsk,  24. 

Volhynia,  23. 

Voloshin,  31. 

Voorsanger,  Jacob,  130. 

Wagenheim  Bros.,  of  St.  Pe- 
tersburg, 175. 
Wagenheim,  J.,  253-254,  337. 
Wallerstein    of    St.    Petersburg, 

^75; 
Washington,     George,      quoted, 

121-122. 
Wengeroff,  Pauline,  20  (n.). 
Wilna. 

See  Vilna. 
Wise,  I.  M.,  47,  49,  55-56,  59, 

61,  65,  70,  78,  80,  85,  99,  130. 
Wittelsbacher,  Rabbi  Moses,  8. 
Wolf,  Simon,  82. 
Women    (Jewish). 

See  Jewish  women. 
Woronzeff,  23. 

Wrontschenko,  Councilor,  44. 
Wunderbar,   18   (n.). 

Zhitomir,  23. 

Zunz,  L.,  383. 


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